Naruto Plus 1
by Cade213
Summary: What would happen if we dropped Kagome into the Naruto world, and she only has a year to prepare for everything that's going to happen? Read and find out Rated M, cuz i'm parranoid
1. Chapter 1

**Note:** This will take place in the anime time line. I will only use the manga if A) I don't feel like going back and forth over the same part over and over again… which, now that I think about it, is always… so… NOW this story will take place with the anime timeline! No, now that I've read it, I think I'll go back to the anime timeline. ^.^

**Another Note:** Includes references to unwritten chapters of my other story, ASL, so be on the lookout for something that may not belong that looks like it could fit the profile

Enjoy, and remember. I OWN NOTHING. And things will be a little OOC

_Inu Talk_

-^-v-^-v-^-v-^-v-^-v

Chapter 1

It was a fine morning in the village of Edo. The sun was shining, the birds were singing, and there had been no demon attacks since Naraku had been purified to the darkest pit of hell. "SIT!" Spoke too soon.

"Inuyasha! I told you as soon as you refused the wish I gave you, that I was going to use it to send the bad demons somewhere! It doesn't mean you'll be going with them!" our favorite fifteen year old time traveler yelled to our favorite silver-haired hanyou.

"For all you know, the jewel could send EVERY demon to HELL because you weren't being specific!" Inuyasha yelled back.

"If it will make you feel better, I'll tell you my wish so you can approve it and we can move on with our lives," Kagome said, much more calmly.

"Yeah," Inuyasha agreed, obviously liking that he had a say in the wish, even if he did refuse to become a full demon.

"Alright, my wish is 'I wish that every demon, besides those that rarely go into a bloodlust, who also wish to stay, will be sent to their own world'," Kagome wished, totally forgetting that the jewel was around her neck.

"Um… Kagome… You didn't give me the jewel… You just made the wish…" Inuyasha was so dumbstruck that the girl who had saved the world so many times over, went through the 'boot camp from hell', aka Sesshomaru's personal training, Sango's brutal taijiya training, and the training from a traveling miko who they let travel with them in exchange for Kagome's training, could do something as stupid as accidentally making a wish on the jewel.

A flash of blinding white light came from the jewel, the Shikon no tama, aka the Jewel of Four Souls. When it died down, everything looked to be the same. The only difference was that there were next to no demon auras in a hundred mile radius.

"Um… You're still here… and so am I… that's a good sign, right?" Kagome asked, clearly expecting to have been sent back to her era when she made the wish.

"Yeah, I guess so…"

"_We will talk soon… but before we do, you need to say good-bye to your friends…_" a strange voice said, not attached to a body.

"Wh-what?" Kagome asked, looking around for the voice.

"I said 'Yeah, I guess so.' Do you ever listen to a word I say?" Inuyasha said, taking the 'female' role in the argument. (seriously, I made him sound like a girl when she bickers with her boyfriend/husband)

"Uh, not you Inuyasha… I just heard a voice. It told me to say good-bye to my friends and that we would talk soon…"

"_Say good-bye… you need to leave… you have duties elsewhere… Say good-bye and meet me at the well… if I am not there, go through it…_" the body-less voice said again.

"You didn't hear that?" Kagome said, scared and a little sad. Scared from the fact that, if the voice had its way, she would never see her friends again. Sad because, well, she's not done being Destiny's plaything.

"Hear what?" Inuyasha asked.

That did it. "To quote Romeo, "_I am fortune's fool"_. I am going to be going somewhere if this voice I can here has its way…"

"Who's Romeo, and what's a 'fortune's fool'?" Inuyasha asked, not even hearing anything after the part he didn't understand.

"Romeo is a character in a play written by Shakespeare, the famous play writer of Elizabethian times. Remember that one play I had to study and, when you heard it started with a fight scene, you made me read it to you. If you had remembered, it means 'I am fates plaything.' (sorry, reading Romeo & Juliet in class and couldn't resist) But, tis not the fates that I am a plaything for, tis Lady Destiny."

"Oh, right," Inuyasha paused for a moment. He then suddenly shouted, "YOU HAVE TO LEAVE AGAIN! AND YOU MIGHT NEVER COME BACK THIS TIME!"

"I'm afraid of what the voice will do if I don't go into the next part of my destiny… For all we know, it could destroy my family should I not listen…"

Inuyasha pulled Kagome into a hug. "Kagome," Inuyasha whispered, knowing full well she could hear him, "You should go. If wherever you're going this time is somewhere in which I still live, I'll know and I'll come find you." Pulling away, he added, "I'll even bring the brat with me if we still travel together."

The look that passed between them was full of pure love, but not that of lovers. No, it was that of sibling. After Kagome's taijiya training and miko training, but before Sesshomaru's training, Kagome had befriended the 'ice prince', Lord Sesshomaru. Shortly after, Inuyasha and Sesshomaru's fights went to a minimum, and started to form a bond of sorts. This soon grew to where they could be in each other's presence for hours without them fighting. After a while, Inuyasha, Sesshomaru, and Kagome, who had also been growing closer to the two of them also, had a blood bond to make each other blood siblings (yeah, I know, I'm soooo original). While Inuyasha and Sesshomaru were already siblings, this just made it official. Sesshomaru got a higher tolerance of purification and the ability to use the Tetsusaiga if Inuyasha gave him permission, Inuyasha also got a higher purification tolerance of purification and the ability to use the poison claws his family was famous for, while Kagome got senses that were heightened to almost equal Sesshomaru's, including strength, and the ability to speak Inu and Ookami, considering they're in the same family.

Next to nothing about their physical forms changed. Kagome just gained a faint crescent moon 'tattoo' on her forehead and a faint silver inu puppy 'tattoo' on her upper right arm. Inuyasha also gained a faint crescent moon on his forehead, but his was more noticeable than Kagome's. He also got a slightly noticeable 'tattoo' of a longbow and arrow crossing over each other on his upper left arm. Sesshomaru gained the same longbow/arrow mark in the same place as Inuyasha, only his was as noticeable as his moon marking. He also gained the same puppy mark as Kagome, but just as noticeable as his other marks.

"I need to go say good-bye now…" Kagome said, turning away. "Meet me at the well, we're saying our good-byes there…"

And so, while Inuyasha dragged his feet to the well, Kagome went to gather everyone that was there.

Everyone at the village knew something was wrong. There was a blinding flash of light, and then, when it cleared, a sense of peace surrounded them, like it was safer than it ever had been for them. This was the reason why Shippo didn't attack Kagome when she returned, simply walked up to her and jumped into her arms, wanting the sense of danger to go away. Sango and Miroku came out, Miroku not trying anything for once, and Kirara was trying to get the same comfort Shippo wanted from Sango.

"Lady Kagome, did you wish on the jewel?" Miroku asked.

"It was an accident, but yes, I did. Now I've found out there's more to my destiny than this. I need to say good-bye, but we're doing it at the well…" Kagome said quickly.

"M-mama… I-I don't want you t' g-go…" Shippo cried.

"S'okay Shippo… Inuyasha promised to take care of you, and he said that if you two are there, wherever I end up, that he'll take you with him to find me…" Kagome soothed.

Sango, having been quiet this whole time, spoke up. "Well, we don't want to keep you from being, what did you say that time, 'fortune's fool'." While she was obviously trying to be cheerful, trying to make Kagome's last memory of her a good one, she had tears running down her cheeks in streams.

"Meow!" Kirara agreed, stopping trying to get rid of the dangerous feel long enough to show that she was crying streams too, considering how wet her fur was. The fact that she was spreading it around didn't help that fact.

So, they started to walk to the well. "Kagome," Miroku said, just using her name for once. "What exactly was you wish? I can barely feel anyone's youki, except those of some of our friend, minus a couple."

"Yeah, after that light, a sense of peace flooded through me, immediately followed by a sense that I didn't need to be a demon slayer anymore, I felt useless," Sango butted in.

"You felt PEACE! I HAVEN'T STOPPED FEELING LIKE I'VE BEEN IN DANGER SINCE!" Shippo exclaimed, still scared.

"I might be able to answer that," Kagome said, drawing the spotlight to her. "I wished that all the demons, minus those who rarely went into a bloodlust and also wanted to stay, would be sent to their own world."

"I-I guess that explains it… I'm too young to go into a bloodlust, so I can't be counted yet, and Kirara has yet to show that she doesn't go into a bloodlust much…"

"Hey," Inuyasha said as they arrived.

"We should start now, so it doesn't get any harder," Miroku suggested.

Kagome stepped up to Miroku first, but before either could say anything, some people came out of the bushes. Those people turned out to be Kaede, who had been gathering herbs when Kagome went to the village, Sesshomaru, Koga, Ayame, Kagura, Kanna, and Hakudoshi. Koga mated Ayame, stopping her resentment towards Kagome. Kagura, Kanna, and Hakudoshi had finally been released from Naraku's control. Kagura became their ally, along with Kanna, who was only a void demon because Naraku forced everything out of her, including her color somehow (hint hint), and Hakudoshi, who Naraku had stolen all of his positive emotions from. They were all very enjoyable once they had their free will.

"H-hello everyo-one," Kagome stuttered, trying to hold back a fresh wave of tears. They obviously came when Inuyasha told them that Kagome was leaving. He didn't even have time to ask them to come before they left. She then stepped up to Hakudoshi.

"You're just like the annoying little brother I never wanted once you got your free will back…" Kagome whispered, giving him a tight hug.

"A-and you're like the mean big sister I never wanted, once I got to know you…" Hakudoshi said, before breaking down into sobs, hugging her back just as tightly. He then quickly let go, and pulled something out of the sleeve of his haori. "We all knew this day would happen soon, so we all got gifts for you and started to carry them around with us…" he explained, handing her the small rectangular box. Inside was a weird-looking dagger with a hole on the bottom. It was all black, minus the gray cloth for grip and the pink carvings on one side and green carvings on the other. "It's a d-dagger-like weapon called a kunai… made f-from demon bone… I put a spell on it in pink, girls like pink, right? The spell makes the kunai go back to its owner, or whoever the owner may have lent it to. I-it also has all of our names inscribed in green on the other side, so you'll never forget any of us."

"T-thank you so much Hakudoshi!" Kagome exclaimed pulling him into another hug. She then let go before it became too much. She then went in front of Kanna (too lazy to do all the farewells, so let's skip to what she got, in order).

From Kanna, she got a dull crimson sack with a gold rope on top that will heal its 'wounds', was charmed so it would hold more than Kagome's yellow pack, and had an inscription of Kagome's name (she's going to put almost all of her presents in there), from Kagura came her own fan, with both her and Kagome's name inscribed on either side. From Koga and Ayame, she got some of the pelts of their fallen enemies, one was that of the fire rat, another with fur as soft as silk, but as tough as steel, etc. From Sesshomaru, she got a sword made from everyone's fangs/ teeth, considering the humans wanted to pitch in. The blade was a steel gray with a red tint, almost like it had absorbed some blood it has spilled. That was impossible, though, because it hasn't and can't be used unless Kagome pulls it out of its sheath herself. The sheath looked like some kid had put random finger paints on it, but, if one were to look closely, one would see that it was really an intricate carving of Kagome and all of the friends she had made along the way, even those that have already passed.

She stepped up to Sango next. "S-Sango-" She was cut off by the very person she was trying to talk to.

"Sh, Kagome, Kirara wants to give you her gift first…"

"K-Kirara… got me… a gift too…" And said neko hopped off Sango's shoulder to go into the foliage. She came back dragging a thin silk blanket that was so full it was barely held together. It was stuffed with demon bones.

"Meow," Kirara said, sitting in her normal position, eyes watching her intently.

"K-Kirara… T-thank you s-so m-much…" Kagome said. She bent down to pick up the bag and put it in Kanna's, but was surprised when, when Kagome got low enough, Kirara bumped her black diamond marking on her forehead against Kagome's faint crescent marking. All the demons gasped, surprised at her choice of gift.

"Th-there… tis done…" said a petite and obviously sad voice.

"Wh-what?" Kagome said, obviously confused. Some random person spoke and it came from the direction of… Kirara. "Kirara… did you just talk?"

"Yes. You see, when an animalistic demon is born with a marking in a shape of their forehead, like my diamond, or Sesshomaru's moon, they have the ability to give those they see as family, but cannot speak their language, the ability to do so. But this does not mean Sesshomaru _can_ do it. He is a humanoid demon, a demon with a human form. His means he's very important in demon standards, while I, an animalistic demon, a demon without a human form, have one that will give you the tongue of cat," Kirara explained. "Tis also a very high honor when given to a human.

"Why didn't you give Sango this ability, then?" Kagome asked, genuinely curious.

"I did, she does not know it though. How did you think we communicated so well on the battle field?"

"Th-Thank you so much Kirara!" Kagome exclaimed, hugging the now transformed Kirara, who saw what action she was going to perform.

"You're welcome… sister…" Kirara purred. (back to fast forward mode, cuz I thought you'd like to know why Kagome can speak cat later)

After many tears and stuttered good-byes, Sango gave her a complete set of demon bone weapons. Miroku, after, surprisingly no groping, gave her instructions on how to summon any animal of her choice. Shippo gave her set of demon bone shuriken, enough to have one name of each member of both her original and her second family. They also had the same spell Hakudoshi's had. They had made their stuff together. Kaede gave a homemade pamphlet on the both the basics on being a miko, to the more advanced stuff, like healing demons. Inuyasha gave her a charm-bracelet-like necklace. It had charms from all her friends on it. A mother wolf with her cub from Ayame and Koga, a longbow crossed with an arrow from Kaede, a tiny Hiraikotsu from Sango, a stack of sutras from Miroku, a halberd from Hakudoshi, a mirror from Kanna, a fan from Kagura, a fox cub from Shippo, a neko and an inu sitting side by side from Kirara and Inuyasha, and a tiny version of Sesshomaru in his true form from, well, Sesshomaru.

Kagome quickly scurried over to the well and stared down it. Before she lost her nerve, she said, "Good-bye, everyone…" before hopping into the well, her arms getting goose bumps from the wind. A couple months ago, she stopped wearing her uniform to the feudal era and stared wearing something different. She wore a sleeveless Chinese style top (think TenTen) that was silver with midnight black trimming. She also wore matching baggy silver pants with silver slipper-like shoes (think Youko Kurama). She also kept her hair up at the base of her neck by a blood crimson hair tie.

Before the light had a chance to envelope her, she heard Sango yell down, "You just wait, Kagome! Now that there are only nice demons here, I'm going become a shinobi! When you get where you're going, there's going to be a village there, and it will have my descendants living in it. So, even if we'll never see each other again directly, we have a chance through them, or maybe even a reincarnation!"

"I can't wait…" Kagome whispered as the light enveloped her, only this one was different. It started out blue with white stars for a second, then there was a flash of light, and then the scene was reversed. "Wh-what?"

"Kagome."

_Huh?_ Kagome thought turning this way and that, trying to locate the source.

"Silly girl, look down."

She did that and saw that she was standing on what appeared to be a reflective white floor. What surprised her the most was the fact that the reflection wasn't her own, but that of Midoriko.

"Bring your hand down, I need help getting up," she said, enjoying the stunned girl's expression.

"Kagome," she said, interrupting what said girl was about to say. "You have created an alternate reality when you made that wish. The wording was different than it should have been, and therefore created another universe. When a universe is created, there is always someone who has the ability to look into it. This is how anime, manga, certain cartoons, a few other T.V. shows, and even certain books were created, by looking into another reality. The reality you've created you know quite well, it was even an obsession at one point-"

"Was it Bleach?" Kagome asked quickly, excited that she got to live in one of her favorite anime.

"No."

"Death Note?" (I don't actually watch these shows, but I know they exist, soooo)

"No."

"Fruits Basket?" (the manga was WAY better than the anime)

"FOR PETES SAKE, WOMAN, LET ME TALK!" Midoriko yelled, her patience at its limit from this girl who had an obsession with every anime known to man.

"HA! I KNEW IT! IT IS FRUITS BASKET!"

"AAAaaanyway, what I was trying to say was that the anime you'll be living in, while it's not shown on the show, your life is an anime there. An anime that next to no one refuses to watch. So, when you tell people your name, and they ask if you're serious, you reply something about your mom liking the name 'Kagome' and that your families last name has been 'Higurashi' for generations. And for petes sake, woman, don't babble on about your life."

"'Kay."

"Oh, one last thing, you will be turned into an eleven year old, but, as consolation, you get to take Honey with you, so you're not alone in a new world. This is also a way where, when you're alone, you can actually talk about your adventures without slipping up."

Honey was the new inumata that, while the size and looks of a 8 week old Shih-Tzu puppy, has had years of training in tracking, fighting, and even healing. She is the best in the kennel, not counting the adult dogs. By kennel, I of course mean future Sesshomaru specially breed an inumata puppy for Kagome for when he knew she would finish the boot camp from hell.

Before Kagome could do anything, another flash of white light came and Kagome passed out.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

The new genin squad that will be training under Gai, aka Neji, TenTen, and Lee, were heading up to the roof of the academy where they would get to know each other. When they got there everyone, including Gai, was surprised to find a girl passed out of the roof with a dull crimson and gold sack, a katana with a very colorful sheath, a large yellow backpack and a small dark golden Shih-Tzu puppy lying around her.

The puppy was currently licking the girls face, trying to get her to wake up. "Ugh…" she groaned. "Sango… Tell Kirara to stop licking me… I still wanna sleep…" They all looked at her like she was crazy, even Neji, though his wasn't that noticeable. She then jumped up, stumbling a small bit, and went into a fighting position with the sheath of her katana held horizontally in front of her by her left hand and her right was holding the blade partially out of the sheath.

"I may be tired as hell, and have been unconscious, but I still know when someone's questioning _my_ sanity!" the woman said forcefully, like her sanity was the most important thing in the world. TenTen face palmed at what the girl just said. That drew the girl's attention to her. "Wow, didn't think I'd find her this fast…" they all easily heard the girl mutter.

"Um… Why were you looking for me?" TenTen asked.

"Uh- So can someone tell me where I am?" she asked, quickly changing the subject after sheathing her blade. Now they all thought she was loose from a mental institution.

"The Village Hidden in the Leave," said TenTen.

Neji then asked, "Who are you? And how did you not know where you are if you're in the center of the city?"

"Is it not common courtesy that when you want to know someone's name, you state your own first?" she said with a smirk.

"…Neji Hyuga," he said with reluctance. You could tell he was really curious, especially when he noticed the slightly shocked look on her face.

"TenTen." Her face grew even more shocked. She then looked sacredly over at Lee, but seemed to notice something that made her calm down before he answered.

"Rock Lee."

"Kagome Higurashi…" she said reluctantly. Everyone else was quite surprised by the name, considering it was the name of the main character of the hit anime series _Inuyasha_.

"Uh… how?" the forgotten Gai asked. (so OOC)

"Um… My mom gave me the name Kagome before the anime came out, and my family name has been Higurashi for generations," she said. "Um, I don't mean to interfere, but can someone take me to the Hokage's office. He'll probably want to hear this…" (Now, I know they probably wouldn't trust her that easily, and it annoys me when people do that, but I really need to move things along)

So, in the end, they all somehow forced Neji to take her to the Hokage's office. On the way there, Kagome was trying her hardest to memorize the landscape. Sometime during the trip, Neji had gotten so curious about how she could keep up with him without the use of chakra, that he activated his Byakugan and shifted his position slightly to the left so she wasn't in his blind spot. He was very surprised to see that she had pink chakra that was streaked with yellow.

It was obvious to him that this girl wasn't a ninja. The yellow chakra was that of physical energy, unmixed with spiritual energy, but that wasn't what surprised him. What surprised his was that her spiritual energy was a bright, hot pink. Normally, when spiritual energy is unmixed with physical energy, it's a gray color. When mixed together, the newly created chakra is turned into a blue color. When that chakra is being used in medical jutsu, it changes to a green color. Nowhere in that timeline is the chakra ever pink. _Just what is this girl?_ Neji found himself thinking.

Kagome could feel when he activated his kekkei genkai, but chose to ignore it, instead more interested to know what was going on below them, since they were jumping from rooftop to rooftop. Soon, they were at the Hokage's office, and Neji left when Kagome was called in.

"So… I hear you were unconscious and didn't know where you were when you woke up," the Hokage, Sarutobi, said.

"Yes. Did you happen to catch wind of why I'd come?" Kagome asked nervously.

"Hm… I have been visited in my dreams by the miko Midoriko for years now. Since the anime _Inuyasha_ came out, to be exact. She's been telling me that it was real, and that we have you to thank for creating this world." He then stood up from his chair, walked in front of Kagome, and bowed to her.

"U-um! It's okay! You don't need to bow to me!" Kagome rushed.

"Sorry, Kagome, it's just that you are a legend. Everybody here thinks that the anime and manga was based off of ancient text that was revealed to the public a few months before it was announced to be released. The text told a story similar to that of the plotline of _Inuyasha_. Now, knowing the text was true, and that we have you to thank for us even being here, I just felt we owed you a great debt. You have saved the lives of many, including those that live in the Hidden Leaf Village."

Kagome then seemed to remember something. "Who… started this village?"

"The First Hokage. But, there is a fact only known to the Hokage. The person who encouraged the First to start the village, the first Leaf-nin in existence, was an ancestor of TenTen. The thing about that is that that person's ancestor was said to be a person from the text, but that would also mean that TenTen is related to someone you had once knew."

"S-Sango… I think she was related to Sango…" Kagome confessed. _But I also think she's her reincarnation_… is the thought Kagome refused to share.

"Is there a way to know for sure?" the Sarutobi asked, clearly curious if the new genin that was so skilled in weapons would be related to one of the two females on the team that helped destroy Naraku and bring the world to what it is today.

"Yeah, all decedents of taijiya, no matter how far into the future, are born with a special scar-like birth mark in the center of their right shoulder blade, if they're a boy, or their left shoulder blade, if they're a girl… It reacts in the presence of those who are related to or is a demon. It's usually in the shape of a katana, but it can be in the shape of any other weapon that may be here."

Sarutobi seemed to think this over for a moment before continuing. "Why is it that, according to both the anime and the text, you're 15, but you only appear to be 11?"

"Midoriko didn't tell me why she did, but, now that I know where I am, I think it may be because I'm supposed to join the class of academy students that will be graduating next year."

"Hm… I will place you in the class, as a thank you. I will not help you graduate, but I will lend you almost any book or scroll you may need to help catch up. You will start tomorrow and the sensei of your class, Iruka, will pick you up from your apartment in the morning to make sure you attend," Sarutobi said, tossing Kagome a set of apartment keys, and getting the correct paperwork for putting her in the correct age group.

"Thank you Lord Hokage." Kagome then bowed and left. She decided to find her own way to the apartment, considering she was going to have to learn her way around sometime.

As she walked, she noticed that everyone was staring at her. It was to be expected, considering everyone knows everyone in villages like these. She saw an entrance to the woods to her left, and decided to take a detour. Once she found a comfortable looking tree, she sat down on the padded moss at its base, and pulled off her old yellow backpack, the crimson sack Kanna gave her, and the sword Sesshomaru gave her.

She then emptied the crimson sack of everything, but noticed one thing out of place. _Did Kanna give me her mirror on purpose_? Yes, Kanna's old mirror was in there. She decided to think about this later, and started to unpack her yellow bag as well. A few things were out of place there too. The first was the obvious one. "So _that's_ where you went, Honey!" The second, it took her a second to realize. It was her ipod. Once she had found out she could recharge it with a small spark of her miko ki, she decided to take it with her to the feudal era. _Guess I forgot about it with all the excitement, lately_.

She then put everything in her red bag, including her yellow one, but excluding her sword, in an organized fashion. She then got up, put her sword back on her hip, slid the gold rope up to her shoulder, and walked around the forest for a little while. She soon came to a clearing that had the four people she met earlier in it. _Oops, came across the training grounds_…

She was about to turn around and leave when she heard TenTen say something that caught her attention. "I'm serious, guys, my shoulder's really itchy," she said, trying her best to scratch her left shoulder blade, but not doing that good of a job.

_That's it, now I _know_ she's at least Sango's descendant_, Kagome thought. She just turned her back to them and was about to walk away when she felt the aura of Neji go from his place in the clearing, to right in front of her.

"Now why are you here?" he asked.

"Got a little lost. I was going to leave you in peace, but you just appeared in front of me for no reason."

"Do you have anything to do with why TenTen is randomly trying to scratch off her shoulder?"

"If I'm right about what I'm thinking about, then yeah, I'm a little responsible."

"Will you tell me what it is?"

"I'd like to confirm it first, but I don't think I can do that unless you all can trust me alone with her. I assume she doesn't want to take her shirt off in front of you three."

He then started to walk away. She was confused until she heard him say, "Are you coming or not?" She then followed him, not really caring what the others thought of her when she randomly appeared behind Neji.

"Hello again," Kagome said, waving.

"Hello," said Lee.

"Hey," TenTen said, barely acknowledging that she was even there, just trying to get rid of the itch in her shoulder that suddenly increased.

"Hello youthful princess," Gai exclaimed.

"TenTen, can I see you in the forest for a sec?" Kagome asked

"Um, sure why?" she asked, stopping her scratching long enough to look at her curiously, waiting for an answer.

"I think I may know the reason why your shoulder's so itchy, it happened to my friend all the time, and I think you may be under the same influence as her."

TenTen, finally about to find out why her shoulder itched so much when in the presence of certain people, hurriedly followed after Kagome as she walked into the forest. They walked for a little while before Kagome finally said, "This should be far enough, just incase any of your teammates or sensei are perverts."

"Alright," she continued as they sat on the floor. "Now I need you to take off your shirt."

"Um… Why?"

Kagome face palmed. "So I can see your shoulder and see if what I think is true." So TenTen took off her top, but she held it in front of her chest area, not wanting to be caught giving a free show.

_H-her mark. It's exactly like Sango's. According to Sango, no one has the exact same mark, not even the case with the katana marks, not even identical twins. C-could it be… that this is Sango's reincarnation_? The mark was the same as Sango's. It looked like a scar, like all the other taijiya marks, but this scar looked like a smaller version of Sango's Hiraikotsu crossed with what seemed to be an overly large kunai. _D-did her mark mean that she would help create the era of the ninja? Or does it mean that she would be reincarnated in the era of the ninja?_

"Is something wrong?" TenTen asked. She was worried about the girl she met not that long ago, because she suddenly started shaking like a leaf.

"U-um… yeah, it's just, not a lot of people have this mark. It's very special. If it reacts to someone, meaning that it will become itchy, but you see them as a friend or comrade, you need to have them concentrate some of their k- chakra into the tip of their index finder, and force the chakra into the mark. It hurts for a moment, but it becomes better when you realize you'll never feel that itchy feeling again when you're around that person." She paused for a moment, letting the information sink in before she continued. "Do you think you can trust me enough to put my chakra into the mark?"

TenTen instantly nodded her head, not knowing what compelled her to do so. So, Kagome concentrated her miko ki into her index finger, lightly touched it to the center of the mark, and forced it into her mark. TenTen let out a short scream before relaxing.

"That wasn't as bad as you made it out to be…" TenTen said.

"I hate to break this to you, but my chakra tends to sooth people. If it were anyone else, I guarantee that it would've been as bad as I made it out to be… You need any help getting rid of all the scratches you gave yourself?" Kagome asked, laughing lightly.

TenTen just seemed to notice the pain coming from her left shoulder blade. "Uh, 'kay," she said, embarrassed.

So, Kagome reached into her red bag, came out with antibacterial cream and bandages. She also came out with Honey. "You really like my bag, don't you?" she asked, setting her down. She lightly applied the cream to her shoulder. Once she was done with that, she tightly wrapped the bandages in such a way that they wouldn't budge unless cut off or intentionally taken off, forcing TenTen to bring her shirt away from her chest.

"You should get back, now," Kagome said once she was done.

"You're not coming back with me?"

"Nah, aren't you guys supposed to be taking a test soon, anyways?"

"GAH! I forgot about that!" TenTen said, running off.

Kagome laughed at her antics before she looked at her watch. Seeing as she still had a couple hours before lunch, she decided to walk around, find her apartment, then buy the necessities like food, a change of clothing, etc.

"_Wanna explore some? See if we can find anyone from that Inuzuka family? I think it'd be fun to meet one,_" Kagome asked Honey in inu language.

"_Whatever you want, you're the one that knows things about here that I don't. to you, this is some cool anime come to life, to me, besides you telling me about the Inuzuka family, this is a whole new world. I have no knowledge of anything here_," Honey replied.

"Well, let's get going!" Kagome cheered, walking off in a seemingly random direction, Honey on her heals.

When they made it to the exit of the forest, they found themselves in the area that looked like a good neighborhood. It turns out that the apartment they were looking for was in the three story building at the edge of the forest. Kagome walked in with Honey at her side, walked up a flight of stairs after a quick 'hello' to the manager, and went to apartment 210, which was located on the second floor.

The apartment itself was bare. The colors were warm and welcoming, the appliances were all there and they all worked, and there was a bed and a dresser in the bedroom and a couch in the living room, and everything she had seen about the building looked new. Kagome then noticed something on the kitchen counter. It looked like some money with a note on top.

'Kagome,' the note started. 'I forgot to tell you this while you were here, so, knowing you would probably go into the forest first, I sent a shinobi to your apartment with this note and some money. Because you're living on your own, training to be a shinobi, and not a shinobi yet, you will receive an allowance of sorts. It's just enough to get you by for the month, plus some extra to save or spend how you like. There's a little more in here than I'll usually send so you can get things like pillows and a blanket. Sincerely, your loving Hokage.'

"_Wow, didn't know the Hokage thought that much of himself. Oh well, now we can continue our plan on going shopping before it gets too late_," Kagome said, unknowingly speaking inu.

So, they set out around the town. They first stopped at a street vender that was selling purses of all kinds. Kagome picked a black velvet coin purse to hold her money. They were about to go grocery shopping when both Kagome and Honey's stomachs growled.

"_Do you think there's any place that will sell oden here_?" Kagome asked hopefully, forgetting, once again, that she could just smell for herself.

"_You're up higher, with less scent of people to suffocate your sense of smell_."

Kagome then sniffed the air, picked up the scent of oden, picked up Honey, then jumped onto the roofs to follow the smell from the sky. When she found the place, it turned out to be the Ichiraku ramen shop. _I didn't know this place sold oden. Oh well, who am I to pass up on my favorite food_? She thought.

So she jumped off the roof and outside the ramen shop. She walked under the flap and sat on one of the stools. Stealing a quick glance at the menu, she was overjoyed to see that her nose hadn't tricked her. That's when a teenage brunette noticed her. "May I take your order, ma'am?" she asked cheerfully.

"One large bowl of oden and one…" she looked to Honey to make sure she was right. Seeing a nod, she continued, "And one small bowl of beef ramen."

Curious as to who the girl who walked into her fathers' ramen shop was talking to, she quickly dropped the order off to her dad and went back to where she previously was. She then leaned over the counter to see what looked to be a puppy dog just out of the kennel. "So cute!" she said with hearts in her eyes.

The dog seemed to really enjoy her praise, because she puffed her chest out, going into what she thought was the cutest position ever. "Her name's Honey, and I'm Kagome. Who are you?" the girl with the dog asked.

"I'm Ayame, and that's my father Teuchi. Nice to meet you Kagome, are you new here?"

"Yep, just came today."

"Oh! Are you that girl that appeared out of nowhere? Everyone's talking about you!"

"Gossip spreads fast, doesn't it?"

"You don't know how fast."

"Order up: One large bowl of oden, One small bowl of beef ramen!"

When Ayame put the food in front of Kagome and the stool next to her, she paid for the meal. "Excuse me, Ayame. Is it okay if I put Honey on one of the stools so she can eat?"

"Course, we let you guys do it whenever any of you stop in," she said, like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"'You guys' 'any of you', just who exactly do you think I am?" Kagome asked, genuinely curious.

"Inuzukas. Aren't you one?" Kagome just shook her head. "Oh! Sorry! I just saw the dog and how you two communicated, and I just assumed. I didn't know there was anyone besides the Inuzuka clan that could communicate that well with dogs."

"S'kay. I have a feeling a lot more people will assume that. Thanks again for the meal!" Kagome replied, picking up Honey and putting her on the stool in front of her beef ramen.

After a nice lunch, Kagome and Honey said good-bye to Ayame and Teuchi, and went to finish their shopping. Next they stopped at a special place that sells pillows and blankets. The place was special because if you showed the guy you made a photo, or an item you wanted on your pillow or blanket, he would get it right down to the last detail. So, Kagome gave him a photo of her second family with the feudal background for the blanket and her sword for her pillow. She thanked the man and left after being told to pick up her things in a couple hours.

Next, they went to the grocery store, they decided to spend the rest of the time there. While Kagome was looking at the ingredients of different soaps, Honey smelled something Kagome couldn't with her nose full of soap. Honey quickly scampered off to where she smelt the scent of inu.

"_Hi!_" she yipped, catching the attention of both the boy and the puppy on his head.

"_Who are you? I've never seen you before_." The puppy asked.

"_My name's Honey! What's yours? Are you that boy's partner? Can he understand us like mine can_?" she babbled. This was, after all, her first time meeting an inu that wasn't from her kennel.

The puppy was excited that anyone could be that excited to meet him. "_I'm Akamaru. This boy's Kiba, and he can understand us as much as we can understand each other_."

Kiba, not really sure what was going on, bent down, looked Honey in the eye, and asked, "So, where is this partner of yours?"

Before Honey could answer, she was interrupted by someone saying, "There you are, Honey. I've been looking everywhere. I really shouldn't have brought those soaps to close to my face." She paused for a moment, noticing Kiba and Akamaru. "Oh, whose this, you make a friend with a boy and his pup?"

"_Yeah! It's so cool meeting someone outside the kennel! Plus, this boy can understand me as well as you can!"_

"Is that so… So, who are you two, anyways? I'd like to know who my partner is making friends with."

"I'm Kiba Inuzuka, and this is Akamaru. How can you communicate so well with your partner when you're not an Inuzuka, too?"

"_That's cuz she's-_" Honey was cut off by Kagome's hand on her mouth.

"And I thought you knew better than to tell a stranger that. Anyway, let's just say I've had a lot of practice. Now, Honey, you wanna stay and talk to these guys, or do you wanna finish shopping with me?"

"SHOPPING!" was Honey's quick reply.

"See ya later Kiba, Akamaru."

"_Bye bye_!" Honey called over Kagome's shoulder

"Well that was… interesting," Kiba said, still confused.

"_Yep_!" Akamaru yipped, laughing a dog laugh.

-^-v-^-v-^-v-^-v-^-v

Hope you all liked it. I spent extra time to make sure it wasn't as stupid sounding as I thought ASL's first chapters were

Anyway, Review cuz they inspire me.


	2. Chapter 2

I have decided to go back to following the manga timeline with certain things I remember from the anime. I listen to music while I write, so this way I don't have to turn it off

**I don't own Imaginary Everybody's Fool, or Bring Me to Life by Evanescence**

_Inu Talk_

"_**Singing**_"

-^-v-^-v-^-v-^-v-^-v

Chapter 2

After walking away from Kiba and Akamaru, Kagome noticed that they had just enough time to get the rest of their groceries before they had to pick up the custom pillow and blanket. Kagome, thinking they wouldn't have enough time, was about to run off and pick up everything with her new demon-like speed, before she was interrupted by Honey.

"_Don't use that here! We'll have enough time, it's not like that nice guy's gonna give your blanket away if you're one second late. He didn't even give you a specific time, that's just a guess_," Honey tried to reason with her. Seeing that her partner wasn't calming down, she continued. "_Besides, aren't you going to try to act emotionless starting tomorrow? It won't do for you to be so hyper one day, and cold the next, they may send you to the people in the white coats_."

"_Yeah, I guess you're right. But how'd you know I was gonna be acting emotionless for my time here_?"

"_I truly do know you too well_," Honey practically purred.

"_Well, let's get going, but at a calm pace_," Kagome said. Honey nodded, and they started to walk around the store to get the rest of the stuff they needed from there.

Once they were done there, Kagome was carrying bags filled with enough necessities to last her the month, while Honey was carrying a bag tiny enough that it didn't drag on the ground when held in her mouth. Hers was filled with dog treats to do with what she will, but they'd have to last the month.

They entered the shop, and the man was immediately on them. "Welcome!" he said. "Do you have anything you want made?"

"Actually, I'm here to pick up my pillow, blanket, photo, and sword."

"Oh, yes, you're that one with the interesting photo, and the odd sword. I have yours finished. Right this way," he said, pointing in the direction of the back room. She went.

When they reached a shelf, he pulled down the sheath along with a blanket, followed by the picture with a pillow. "Here you go miss, I hope this it to your enjoyment!"

"I guess there was a miscommunication… I asked for the sword's pattern to be on the pillow and the picture's pattern to be on the blanket-" she was cut off by the worried man.

"I'm so sorry! I thought that this was the correct way! I knew there was something out of place when I put the sword with the blanket to be made!" the overenthusiastic man practically screamed.

"-but I like this way better," Kagome concluded. "You can still see everything in the pillow, but you can easily see every individual face on the blanket, whereas on the pillow, they would've probably had been more of a mess than what people think my swords sheath is."

She reattached the sword to her hip, paid the man more than enough, and walked out.

"_That was interesting_," Honey said once they were far enough away.

"Yep."

On the walk home, they came across a clothing store. Considering Kagome still needed to pick up clothes, she entered, Honey on her heels. Not much happened while they were there, except for the fact that it had all the pieces of her exact outfit there. She bought three of each piece and walked out.

They then reached the apartment and went up to theirs. Kagome put all the bags on the counter and started unpacking. Honey had set her dog treats somewhere and started to help. She was picking up anything that her teeth wouldn't damage and put them away where she knew Kagome would like them, if she could reach. If not, she just put in on the counter, or floor, depending on the cupboard, outside the cabinet for Kagome to unpack.

By the time they were done, it was dinner time. "Want some ramen?" Kagome asked, not even caring that there were better things to eat there.

"_YUMMY_!" Honey exclaimed, turning into the hyper little puppy she couldn't be when she was in Sesshomaru's kennel.

So, Kagome made two servings of instant beef ramen. She set one on the floor so Honey wouldn't strain herself from the angle of the chair, and then started to dig in.

Of course, their dinner was much later than a normal person's considering no matter how close Kagome got to Inuyasha, he was still a slave driver. So, when they finished their dinner, Kagome immediately put the new sheet on the bed, set her pillow on her bed, and lay down, putting her blanket over her body. She fell asleep instantly. Honey jumped onto her bed and crawled under her arm and fell asleep also.

Out of habit, Kagome rose with the sun, which, here, it rose earlier than if she were back in either her world or the feudal era. "Dang," Kagome said, looking at the clock on the nightstand. "I gotta get into the habit of waking up at 5, and not with the sun."

Not wanting to wake Honey any earlier than needed, she crept out of the room. She took a shower and dressed in her one of the outfits she picked up at the shop yesterday. Since she deliberately took forever in the shower, by the time Kagome got out, it was about 5:15. She started to make scrambled eggs and bacon. When the smell got strong enough, she saw Honey sleepwalking down the hall, guided only by the smell of delicious food.

Kagome let out a growl, immediately jerking Honey back into the land of the living. "Mornin' Sunshine!" Kagome joked, knowing Honey wasn't a morning person when there was bacon involved and she had to wait for it. "Don't worry, it's almost done," she said, noticing the evil glare sent her way.

They soon sat down to eat breakfast. As soon as they were done and Kagome was washing dishes, there was a _poof_ and the room was filled with smoke. When it cleared, the person Kagome assumed was Iruka in non-anime form was standing there. "Hello, I heard I was supposed to escort the new student to the academy. You're her, correct?"

"Yep, I'm Kagome Higurashi, Iruka-sensei." She expected for him to be surprised, like everyone else, minus the Hokage, but he didn't seem shocked in any way, shape, or form.

"The Hokage has been confiding in me for months about the dream visits from Midoriko. He told me that you were gonna be the new student."

"Awesome. Just a heads up, I'm going to act distant towards them. I'll talk if talked to, I'll give advice if needed, but I'll be cold towards almost everyone in the classroom," Kagome warned.

"I kinda figured that would happen. Ready to leave?"

"Sure, come on Honey!"

"Didn't know you had a dog."

"She was hiding in my bag when I was talking to the Hokage. Just so you know, I can talk to her like an Inuzuka can."

"Good to know."

Then they were off. They were jumping across the rooftops, Iruka in front, Kagome behind him, and Honey in Kagome's arms. Once they made it to the classroom, the bell rang for class to start.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

Iruka-sensei was right outside the door, Kiba could smell it. He could also smell someone with him. The scent was familiar, but he couldn't place it, like it was slightly different from the scent it was supposed to match. When the bell rang, Iruka walked into the class, the girl with her partner, Honey, behind him, only this time, the girl had a sword on her hip.

"Hello class!" Iruka started. "Today we have a new student! Her name if Kagome Higurashi, please welcome her." When the entire class gave shocked looks, Kagome smirked behind her hand. "Kagome, please take a seat anywhere available."

Kagome sat in the back right seat in the spot closest to the window with Honey sleeping on the table in front of her, resting in the sun. While Iruka droned on with his lesson, Kagome could feel whenever someone curiously glanced her way before quickly turning back to Iruka so as not to get yelled at for not paying attention.

This lesson was about something she had learned from watching every episode of _Naruto_ known to man, so, while she looked like she was listening, she was thinking about all the people she'd met personally so far. Neji, TenTen, Lee, Gai, Sarutobi, Ayame, Teuchi, Kiba, Iruka, and she hadn't even mentioned the rest of the class, or the people she hadn't gotten names from.

_I've met way too many interesting people to count_, was her thought on the matter.

Just then, the bell rang for lunch. She immediately walked out of the classroom and to a clearing in the small forest by the academy. She took out her bento and was about to open it when there was a rustle in the bushes. Out walked a shy-looking girl with blue-black hair, very much like Kagome's own, and pupilless, white eyes. Judging from appearances, the eyes, and the immediate look of her personality, Kagome had to guess that this was Hinata.

"Hello," Kagome said, startling Hinata.

"O-oh, h-hello H-Higurashi," came Hinata's nervous reply. "I-I'm Hinata H-Hyuga." She then heard a bark from Honey. "H-hello to you t-to. What's your n-name?"

"It's Honey," Kagome said, opening her bento and taking out a rice ball. "Was there something you needed, Hinata?" she asked before taking a bite.

"I-I just wanted to w-welcome you to the L-Leaf, since I've n-never seen you b-before."

Kagome seemed to think about this, before she seemed to come to a decision of sorts. She took a rice ball and tossed it to Hinata with a simple, "Catch," all the while keeping up her cold façade.

Hinata caught it well, considering she wasn't expecting that at all. "U-Uh, th-thank you H-Higurashi."

"Kagome."

"Huh?"

"My name's Kagome. Being called Higurashi makes me sound old."

"O-oh, th-then thank you, K-Kagome."

"Y'know Hinata," Kagome said, swallowing another bite of rice ball. "If you need anything just ask. While it may not seem like it, I like to help people."

Hinata then thanked her again and left, leaving Kagome to finish her lunch in peace.

Once Hinata was out of earshot, Kagome said, "I know you're there, you can come out."

With that Kiba and Akamaru dropped from the trees. "_Hi Kiba! Hi Akamaru_!" was Honey's immediate response to them dropping seemingly out of nowhere.

"_Hi Honey_," was Akamaru's response.

"How'd ya know we were here?" Kiba asked.

"Easy, my nose, along with my hearing. My senses where forcibly heightened a few months ago, and, since then, I've learned how to use them to my advantage."

"What's up with you acting so cold? You seemed nicer yesterday."

"_She doesn't want random people mixed up in her business_," Honey said before Kagome could cut her off.

Kagome's right eye twitched. "What did I tell you about telling random people that?"

"_To do it_?" came Honey's oh-so innocent reply.

"We talk about this later. Anyway, was there something you needed, Kiba, or was that it?"

Kiba shrugged and walked off. Once again took a bite of her rice ball, savoring the fact that, besides Honey, she was enjoying it without having to talk to people. Don't get me wrong, she loved being around people, and the loved talking to people, but she preferred to eat a good meal in silence. It put her into higher spirits.

When she was back in the classroom, the bell rang again, signaling that lunch was now over. Everyone, besides Kiba, Akamaru, Hinata, and Honey, who had seen the warm side of her, saw that Kagome had a slight, calm smile of her face. It seemed like she didn't even notice she was smiling. Honey was sleeping on her lap and Kagome was subconsciously petting her.

The rest of the day past unnoticed. Nothing really happened, Kagome learned some new things. This was basically how the rest of the year went.

)-(0)-(0)-(0)-(0)-(0)-(

It was the lunch of the day before graduation exams. Kagome was once again left in peace, so this time she decided to do something different. She took out her iPod, which she had put in a hidden pants pocket, put one of the earphones in her ear, pressed play, and started to sing along.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

Hinata was walking in the forest to the clearing she knows Kagome always goes to. She wanted advice on her crush on Naruto. That, and she really like to see the girl show emotion, and the only time she did that were when she had a peaceful lunch, or when she was giving advice. Just as she came within earshot, she heard someone start to sing.

"_**I linger in the doorway**_

_**Of alarm clock screaming**_

_**Monsters calling my name**_

_**Let me stay**_

_**Where the wind will whisper to me**_

_**Where the raindrops as their falling tell a story**_

_**In my field of paper flowers**_

_**And candy clouds of lullaby**_

_**I lie inside myself for hours**_

_**And watch my purple sky fly over me**_

_**Don't say I'm out of touch**_

_**With this rampant chaos – your reality**_

_**I know well what lies beyond my sleeping refuge**_

_**The nightmare I built my own world to escape**_**-**"

At this point, Hinata was behind a tree, and saw that it was Kagome singing this, while listening to what seemed to be what was playing the music she was singing along with.

"_**-In my field of paper flowers**_

_**And candy clouds of lullaby**_

_**I lie inside myself for hours**_

_**And watch my purple sky fly over me**_

_**Swallowed up in the sound of my screaming **_

_**Cannot cease for the fear of silent nights**_

_**Oh how I long for the deep sleep of dreaming**_

_**The goddess of imaginary light**_

_**In my field of paper flowers**_

_**And candy clouds of lullaby**_

_**I lie inside myself for hours**_

_**And watch my purple sky fly over me**_"

"How was that, Hinata?" Kagome asked, smirking.

"I-it was very g-good Kagome," Hinata said, smiling.

_I think I found something else that can make Kagome smile_, Hinata thought.

"Was there something you needed?"

"I-I wanted to know what to do about N-N-Naruto."

"You talkin' bout that little crush you have on him?" Getting a nod, she continued, her face easily revealing every emotion she was feeling, like all the other times Hinata had seen her give advice. "Well, I heard he has a crush on Sakura, can't see why though, when she always beats him whenever he does something she doesn't like. Maybe… no, he's too dense… How about- no, you're way too shy for that." Kagome was concentrating really hard of this. "Sorry Hinata, but I can't seem to come up with a solution that would work for the mixture of his denseness and your shyness."

"I-it's okay, K-Kagome, I'm just glad you t-tried."

Hinata was about to leave, but was stopped when Kagome asked, "You wanna stay, listen to some music from where I come from?"

"U-uh." Hinata was taken completely by surprise. Normally after she got the advice she needed and had seen Kagome show emotion, she would leave, no questions asked, but this time was different. "S-sure."

So Hinata walked over to Kagome's side, and put in the ear bud like Kagome showed her, and Kagome pressed play, singing along with the lyrics.

"_**Perfect by nature**_

_**Icons of self indulgence**_

_**Just what we all need**_

_**More lies about a world that**_

_**Never was and never will be **_

_**Have you no shame don't you see me**_

_**You know you've got everybody fooled**_

_**Look here she comes now**_

_**Bow down and stare in wonder**_

_**Oh how we love you**_

_**No flaws when you're pretending**_

_**But now I know she**_

_**Never was and never will be**_

_**You don't know how you've betrayed me**_

_**And somehow you've got everybody fooled**_

_**Without the mask where will you hide**_

_**Can't find yourself lost in your lie**_

_**I know the truth now**_

_**I know who you are**_

_**And I don't love you anymore**_

_**It never was and never will be**_

_**You don't know how you've betrayed me**_

_**And somehow you've got everybody fooled**_

_**It never was and never will be**_

_**You're not real and you can't save me**_

_**And somehow now you're everybody's fool**_"

"What do ya think?" Kagome asked with a smile.

"I-i think it's nice, but a l-little too depressing for m-me."

"Who do you think will be on you team, Hinata?"

"I-I'm not even sure th-that I'll gr-graduate."

"Of course you will, if either of us won't graduate, then it'll be me. I have much less training in the ninja ways than you."

"K-Kagome, when you s-said 'training in the n-ninja ways', does that mean you've h-had other t-training?"

"Yeah, I kinda had to, if I hadn't gotten training in hand-to-had, and basically every weapon, I would've been long dead before I came here. While I know I could beat up most people in our class with little effort, I don't think that's all I need to graduate."

"I-I still think you'll do great, K-Kagome." Hinata then seemed to notice something. "H-hey, Kagome, wh-where's Honey?"

"Oh, her? I couldn't get her to wake up this morning. She growled at me every time I tried. I figured I didn't need her to be here today, anyway, so, I let her sleep." The bell rang for lunch to be over. "This little talk will be our little secret, right?"

Hinata nodded and walked inside, Kagome following, her mask back in place. When time came to go back to her apartment, Hinata walked with her, seeing as the path Kagome takes back home passes by the Hyuga compound.

The next day was the day of the graduation exams. Kagome was there first, with Honey running around the classroom, trying to burn off all the energy she got from sleeping so much the day before. When some other students entered the room, they almost knocked down by her. Seeing this, Kagome growled a warning, causing Honey to go to the corner by Kagome and chase her tail in continues circles.

And that's when Hinata walked in. Deciding she wanted to sit next to the person she saw as her new friend, she asked, "C-can I sit here?" This caught the whole classes attention, or, at least, the people that were there already. At her nod, everyone was shocked. They were under the impression that if you asked to sit next to her, she'd act like Sasuke, cold and distant. Of course, no one ever asked before now.

A while later, the peace was disturbed by the two main Sasuke Uchiha fan club members, Sakura and Ino (I REALLY don't wanna do this scene, so, I'll fast forward).

While Sasuke and Naruto were glaring at each other, Naruto in front of Sasuke, on his desk, the kid in front of them was getting up out of his seat. At the same time, Kagome got up from her seat and walked over to the two boys. The kid in front of them bumped into Naruto, which caused Naruto to fall forward, which caused them to lock lips. When Kagome got there, they had just done it. She quickly pulled the two apart by the tops of their heads, and waited for them to stop gagging.

Now all the girls, minus Kagome and Hinata, were about to attack Naruto, but were stopped by Kagome. "It was an accident, in case you didn't see. I'm sure they would never do that on purpose." She didn't give them a chance to reply as she dragged Naruto back to where Hinata and her were sitting. She forced Naruto to sit on the other side of Hinata before reclaiming her seat. She was about to go back to looking boredly out the window, when she realized what she just did would do to Hinata. "H-" But it was too late. Hinata had fainted and Naruto was now poking her to see if she was okay. "Of course she'd faint…" Kagome said, exasperated.

Of course she woke up a minute later, but, in that time, Kagome had forced Naruto to switch seats so, when Hinata woke up, she didn't immediately faint again. When the exams were taken, everyone, minus Naruto, passed. Naruto was upset, and Hinata was sad that her not-so-secret crush didn't pass.

"Don't worry," Kagome told her. "He'll be a ninja sooner than you think."

The next day, when they were assigned teams, Kagome walked in with her headband over her sash, her sword held between them. When she saw Naruto come in later with a headband on his forehead and a grin on his face, she leaned over and whispered to Hinata, "I told ya so."

Iruka-sensei walked in, explained to them the genin speech, then started calling off teams. "Team Seven: Naruto Uzumaki," Hinata was hoping she would be put on that squad. "Sakura Haruno," Naruto cheered, Sakura sulked, and Hinata was slightly disappointed. "Sasuke Uchiha," Now Sakura cheered and Naruto sulked. "And Kagome Higurashi," he finished, to the surprise of the entire class, including Kagome herself.

"Iruka-sensei?" Kagome asked, raising her hand. "Why is there a four person squad?"

"We have one more girl than usual this year, so, instead of one one man, or, in this case woman, squad, we made a four man squad." Before he could continue, he had to answer why Naruto was on Sasuke's squad. After that, he continued. "Squad Eight: Hinata Hyuga, Kiba Inuzuka, and Shino Aburame. Squad Ten: Ino Yamanaka, Shikamaru Nara, and Choji Akimichi. That's all the squads. After lunch you'll meet your new jounin teachers. Until then, class dismissed."

Everyone left class then. "Hey, Hinata?"

"Y-yes?"

"You gonna eat lunch with your team?"

"I-if they a-allow me t-to."

"Well, even if they don't, you know where to find me. I doubt they won't allow you to, though."

"Y-you're not going to eat lunch with your group?"

"Nah, I already know what's going on between them this lunch time. Sasuke's gonna eat alone. Naruto's going to impersonate Sasuke to see what she likes about him, Sakura's gonna make a fool of herself in front of the real Sasuke. Yeah, don't wanna be around for that."

"D-do you w-wanna eat lunch w-with us, i-if it's okay with th-them?"

"That'd be nice, thanks Hinata, but, I think I'll sit this one out."

So, while Kagome went to her usual clearing, Hinata went to find the rest of her squad. When she came across them, they did decide to have lunch together, so Hinata decided to ask something. "I-is it o-okay if we go e-eat with a f-friend of m-mine?"

"Sure, why not?" Kiba said, shrugging. Shino didn't seem to care either way.

When they went into the forest, they heard singing again. Hinata recognized it. It was the same song she had heard when she came last time. Shino, Kiba, and Akamaru on the other hand, didn't know who was singing, but they saw that Hinata wasn't scared, which meant that this was harmless.

"K-Kagome…" Hinata said, peeking out from behind a tree.

"You're too nice for your own good, you know that, right, Hinata?"

"H-how'd you-"

"My nose never lies. You four's scents were so thick in the air, I could practically taste it. Well, since you came to all this trouble, come, sit, do whatever."

"_Hi Kiba and Akamaru_!" Honey yelled over her shoulder as she raced through the bushes.

"_Wait for me_!" Akamaru yelled, jumping off Kiba's head to chase after Honey. Kagome just shook her head at the sight.

They ate their lunch in a comfortable silence, with the occasional yipping dog racing through the clearing, seeming to be playing tag. When lunch was over, they all walked in together. When team eights sensei, Kurenai, arrived, Kagome wished them luck as they left. Once it was just Naruto, Sakura, Sasuke, and her left, Kagome took out her iPod and listened to more Evanescence.

After a couple hours, she got bored with that and took out a scroll she borrowed from the Hokage and didn't read yet. About half-way through the scroll, she heard Naruto complaining about their sensei being late, and put an eraser in the doorway that would drop on the next person that walks in. "Naruto," Kagome started, catching the attention of the other three. "If our sensei is who I think he is, then he has a good reason for being late. He'll just tell us a lie so we won't worry about him."

Little did Kagome know that the exact sensei she was talking about was right outside the door, and had heard the entire thing. He opened the door and let himself get hit with the eraser, but before it could hit his head, a kunai came out of nowhere and pinned it to the wall in the hall opposite the door. They all stared at Kagome, knowing she was she one that threw it.

"We gonna do this, or not?" Kagome asked, closing the scroll.

"Um, right. My first impression of you guys… I don't like you guys."

Knowing what was going to happen next, Kagome leaned out the window behind her, seemingly falling to her doom. Everyone raced to see if she was okay, but as soon as they got to the window, they saw her running past it to the roof.

"How'd she know we were gonna go to the roof?" the gray-haired sensei asked to seemingly no one.

"Ok… Let's begin with some introduction," he said once they were all there.

"What do you want to know?" Sakura asked.

"How about… your likes, dislikes… dreams for the future, hobbies, stuff like that."

"Hey hey, why don't you introduce yourself to us first?" Naruto asked.

"Yeah… you look suspicious…" Sakura said. (hehehe. She did say this in the manga)

"Oh… me? My name is Kakashi Hatake. I have no desire to tell you guys my likes and dislikes. Dreams for the future…? Hm… Well, I have a lot of hobbies…"

"So… all we learned… was his name?" Sakura said.

"You on the right, you first."

"Me! Me! My name is Naruto Uzumaki. I like cup ramen! What I like even more is the restaurant ramen Iruka-sensei buys me. What I dislike is the three minutes waiting for cup ramen to cook. My dream… is to surpass Hokage! And then… have all the people of this village acknowledge my existence! Hobbies… pranks, I guess."

"Alright, next."

"I'm Sakura Haruno." (sorry, can't do anymore. WAY TOO MUCH FOR ME heheheh)

"Next."

"My name is Sasuke Uchiha. There are tons of things I dislike but I don't really like anything. And… I don't want to use the word 'dream' but… I have an ambition. The resurrection of my clan and… to kill a certain man." Naruto froze at that declaration, thinking he meant him.

"Last one."

"_My name's Honey and-_"

"Honey, they can't understand you." This caused Honey to mope. Kagome sighed and asked, "Is it okay if she introduces herself and I translate?"

"I don't see why not," Kakashi said.

"_Alright! My name's Honey. I like Kagome, going on walks, playing with Akamaru, and lots of other thing_." She paused, waiting for Kagome to translate. Once she was done, she continued. "_I dislike when I run out of treats and when I have to stop playing with Akamaru, he's fun to play with. My hobbies are training with Kagome and playing with Akamaru._" Another pause. "_My dream for the future is to become the best partner I can be for Kagome! And maybe find a mate and settle down_."

"What's a mate?" Naruto asked.

"The animal version of a life partner." Getting a blank stare, she elaborated. "Husband or wife."

"Oh!"

"Now your turn," Kakashi said, pointing at Kagome.

"My name's Kagome Higurashi. My likes would take a lifetime to tell you, but my dislikes are easy. Spiders, math, having to leave my family without warning, spiders… did I mention spiders? Anyway, my hobbies are training with Honey and eating lunch with Hinata. My dream for the future… probably to find a way to see all my friends at least on last time."

"That's enough of that," Kakashi started. "We will start our duties tomorrow."

"Yay! What kind of duties! Duties! Duties!" Naruto interrupted.

"First we are going to do something with just the five of-" He was interrupted by Honey barking.

"Sorry, Honey. With just the SIX of us."

"WHAT! WHAT!" Naruto asked excitedly.

"Survival training," was the simple reply.

"Survival training?"

"Why is our duty training? We did enough training at the academy," Sakura asked.

"It's because only 33% of the graduates actually become genin, right?" Kagome asked.

"That's right Kagome."

"HUH?" came the scream from Naruto and Sakura.

"Anyways, tomorrow you will be graded on the training field. Bring all you shinobi tools. Oh, and skip breakfast, you'll throw up. The details are on this printout. And don't be late tomorrow," he said, passing out the printout. He then left.

The next morning, Kagome made two omelets. Both Kagome and Honey ate in peace since Kagome told Honey why they really couldn't eat breakfast. While everyone else made it on time, they made it to the training ground an hour late. "You're late," Sakura pointed out.

"I know one of our sensei's habits. It's the fact that he's always hours late for anything. So I decided I would come late, but a safe late. Oh, yeah, almost forgot," Kagome said, reaching into her pocket. She pulled out the granola bar. "Here, eat," she said, tossing one to her three teammates.

"B-but Kakashi-sensei said that we would throw up if we ate," Sakura said.

"Yes, he did, but we need something to sustain us 'til lunch. Besides, I have faith we can pass this test. Just remember that we gotta stick together," Kagome said, giving them a thumbs up.

"Thanks Kagome!" Naruto said.

"Thank you," said Sakura.

Sasuke just gave a nod. Then those three started to eat them.

Kagome then sat underneath a tree, pulled the scroll she had previously been reading and her iPod out of her crimson sack, put her ear buds in, pressed play, and started to read.

"What is that?" Naruto asked, sitting down next to her.

"A scroll."

"No, the thing in your ears." At this, Sasuke and Sakura listened in, curious as well.

"It's something from where I come from. It's called an iPod. It stores music and plays it back whenever you want. You wanna hear one of my favorite songs?"

"Sure!"

"What about you two?"

"Okay," Sakura said, curious. Sasuke said and did nothing, but you could tell he did.

Kagome pulled out a portable iHome (I think that's what they are, not sure). She put her iPod in it and press play. Instantly, music started to play, but it wasn't like any Sakura, Sasuke, or Naruto had ever heard before.

"_**How can you see into my eyes like open doors**_

_**Leading you down into my core **_

_**Where I've become so numb without a soul (soul)**_

_**My spirit sleeping somewhere cold**_

_**Until you find it there and lead it back home**_

_**(Wake me up)**_

_**Wake me up inside**_

_**(I can't wake up)**_

_**Wake me up inside**_

_**(Save me)**_

_**Call my name and save me from the dark**_

_**(Wake me up)**_

_**Bid my blood to run**_

_**(I can't wake up)**_

_**Before I come undone**_

_**(Save me)**_

_**Save me from the nothing I've become**_

_**Now that I know what I'm without**_

_**You can't just leave me**_

_**Breathe into me and make me real**_

_**Bring me to life**_

_**(Wake me up)**_

_**Wake me up inside**_

_**(I can't wake up)**_

_**Wake me up inside**_

_**(Save me)**_

_**Call my name and save me from the dark**_

_**(Wake me up)**_

_**Bid my blood to run**_

_**(I can't wake up)**_

_**Before I come undone**_

_**(Save me)**_

_**Save me from the nothing I've become**_

_**Bring me to life**_

_**(I've been living a lie)**_

_**(There's nothing inside)**_

_**Bring me to life**_

_**Frozen inside without your touch without your love**_

_**Darling only you are the life among the dead**_

_**All this time I can't believe I couldn't see**_

_**Kept in the dark but you were there in front of me**_

_**I've been sleeping a thousand years it seems**_

_**Got to open my eyes to everything**_

_**Without a thought without a voice without a soul**_

_**(Don't let me die here)(There must be something more)**_

_**Bring me to life**_

_**(Wake me up)**_

_**Wake me up inside**_

_**(I can't wake up)**_

_**Wake me up inside**_

_**(Save me)**_

_**Call my name and save me from the dark**_

_**(Wake me up)**_

_**Bid my blood to run**_

_**(I can't wake up)**_

_**Before I come undone**_

_**(Save me)**_

_**Save me from the nothing I've become**_

_**Bring me to life**_

_**(I've been living a lie)**_

_**(There's nothing inside)**_

_**Bring me to life**_"

"Isn't it kinda depressing?" Sakura asked.

"Yeah, but I like it. It's not nearly as depressing as 'Hello'," was Kagome's reply.

"Do you have anything more cheerful on that thing?" Naruto asked.

"Yes, yes I do." So Kagome went through her list of songs, picked on, and pressed play. It was 'Dynamite'.

"Now this one I like," Sakura said.

After that, Kagome went through her song list and picked one. Before she pressed play though, she asked, "Who wants to dance?" She got confused looks in response, so she pressed play anyway. She walked a few yards away and said, "Make sure there's enough room between you. All you have to do in this song is do what he tells you." After she finished explaining, Sakura and Naruto went by Kagome, putting about a yard between them and her. Then it started playing, revealing that it was 'The Cha Cha Slide'.

"This is kinda fun," Sakura admitted.

"Come on Sasuke, join us. You need to loosen up somehow," Kagome teased. After Kagome said that, Naruto started to bug him. In the end, the song was over before he could move an inch. "Where I come from, people don't have as much stamina as ninja, so this song tends to tire them out if they dance through it."

It was then that Kakashi arrived. "Hey guys, good morning," he said.

"YOU'RE LATE!" came Naruto and Sakura's angry reply.

"Ok, it's set for noon," Kakashi said, placing a timer on the middle tree stump. He pulled something from his pocket. "Here are three bells. Your task is to take them from me by noon. Those who cannot get a bell by noon… get no lunch. I'll not only tie you to one of those stumps but I'll eat right in front of you."

At this, Sakura, Sasuke, and Naruto all thought the same thing. _I'm so glad Kagome brought those granola bars_.

"You only need to get one bell. There are only three, so one of you will definitely be tied to the stump. And, the person who doesn't take a bell fails. So, at least one of you will be sent back to the academy."

"_Hey, did you forget me again_?" Honey barked. Kagome translated.

"No, since you and Kagome are a package deal, I'm counting you two as one. Should either of you get a bell, you both pass," he said, trying to smooth things over. In truth, he had forgot about Honey, and what he said had been a quick solution to the threat of an angry inu. "You can even use your weapons. You won't succeed unless you come at me with the intention to kill."

"But! You'll be in danger." Sakura interrupted.

"Yeah, you're so slow you can't even dodge… a black board eraser! We'll kill you!" Naruto declared.

"Know thy enemy before you speak ill of him," Kagome warned softly.

"In the real world, those with no talent often bark the loudest. Well, ignore Mr. Dead Last and start when I say…"

Naruto got angry with what he said. In his anger, he drew a kunai and charged at Kakashi before he said start. Before Naruto could do anything, Kakashi grabbed the hand that was holding the kunai, and twisted it so it was pointed at Naruto's neck.

"Slow down… I haven't said start yet," Kakashi said calmly. "Well it seems like you're prepared to come at me with the intent to kill. So you've finally acknowledged me? Hehehe, seems like… I'm beginning to… like you guys. Okay, let's get going. Ready… START!" with that, the four genin, plus Honey, ran off in different directions.

_Let's just hope they remembered what I said about sticking together_, Kagome thought.

"The basics of a ninja are to hide yourself well," Kakashi said, seemingly randomly. "Good, they've hidden well." He was interrupted when Naruto declared he wanted to fight him.

_Well, I knew I couldn't trust Naruto to find the hidden message, but Sakura and Sasuke are smarter, they should be able to figure it out, if they thought about it_. When neither Sakura nor Sasuke moved to help Naruto, Kagome continued her though. _Let's just hope they did think about it_.

When she saw Kakashi pull out his orange book, Kagome had to struggle to hold in her laughs at Naruto's expression. When Sakura came out of her hiding place and tried to warn Naruto about what she thought was the tiger seal, Kagome smirked. _She may be able to figure it out after all_.

Kakashi then jabbed Naruto in the butt while saying, "Leaf Village Secret Finger Jutsu, A Thousand Years of Death!" this sent Naruto flying into the water.

_Naruto's about to get serious_.

After Kakashi used a substitution jutsu, Kagome snuck away, knowing that she could probably find Sakura or Sasuke before they confronted Kakashi themselves. She soon came across Sakura, who had just passed out from the Genjutsu he put her under.

"Thanks a lot, Kakashi," Kagome said, not turning his way. "I was just about to see if she had found the meaning to what I said earlier."

"Oh, so you figured out the purpose of this assignment?"

"Teamwork. This whole test was about teamwork. Now I need to rely on Sasuke because Naruto's too dense to figure this out and Sakura passed out. Now that I think of it, where'd Honey run off to…"

Suddenly, there was a _poof_, and Honey came barreling into Kagome while a log tumbled down from where Kakashi had just been. "_Sorry, I knew he wasn't real, but I really wanted to sink my fangs into him_."

"S'alright, Honey. I was done talking to him for now." Kagome then walked off to find Sasuke, Honey in tow.

When she came across him, having taken twice as long as she should've by going in the opposite direction, she found a passed out Sakura, and Sasuke, who was totally buried underground, minus his head. Kagome face palmed at the scene, much like she did when she saw the anime.

"Did you get the meaning of what is said earlier?" Kagome asked, stopping in front of Sasuke's head. When Sasuke just glared at her, she continued, "If you don't get it, I won't explain it to you. Honey, can you dig him out, then meet up with me back at the tree stumps? Seems none of them got it… then again, I didn't even get a chance to ask Sakura." She had muttered the last part to herself, but Sasuke still heard it.

She walked off, leaving Honey behind to dig out Sasuke. When she made it to the tree stumps, she saw Naruto tied to one.

"Tried to eat the lunches?" At Naruto's nod, she smirked. "I knew you'd try something like that. I also knew you wouldn't get my message."

Before Naruto could reply, Honey came out of the bushes, just as the bell rang. Soon, Sakura was sitting to the left of Naruto, Sasuke to the right, and Kagome, having moved the bell to another stump, was sitting Indian style on the stump Naruto was tied to, Honey in her lap.

"Oh… you guys look really hungry," Kakashi said boredly. "By the way, something about the training…" Before he could say anymore, Kagome tuned him out until she knew he was talking about something interesting. "The five of you working together may have gotten the bells."

"What do you mean by teamwork?" Sakura asked. "There are only two bells! Even if we work together and get the bells, one of us would still fail."

"Of course! This test is purposely set up to make you fight against yourselves. The purpose is to see whether you forget about your own interests… and successfully work together… under these designed circumstances. Yet, the only one who saw through it was Kagome."

Kagome tuned him out again, waiting for him to get done explaining to Naruto about the stone inscribed with names of Leaf-nin that were KIA.

"You guys… I'll give you one more chance. But after lunch, I'll make it even tougher to get the bells. Those who still wish to challenge can eat lunch. But don't give any to Naruto. It's punishment for trying to eat by yourself. If anyone gives him any food, you will fail immediately. Got it? Oh, and Kagome, usually you don't want to keep this kind of information from the team, but I'm glad you did. I need them to figure it out by themselves." And then he was gone.

While Sasuke and Sakura picked up their lunches, Kagome went over to her crimson sack, then went back to her previous spot on the tree stump. While Kagome was digging through her bag, Sakura asked, "Aren't you going to eat, Kagome?"

"Yeah, but all I'll really eat for lunch is rice balls, just ask Hinata. I knew Kakashi-sensei didn't know that, so I packed my own lunch. Honey rarely ever eats lunch, so she's fine," Kagome said. Kagome had gotten the underlying meaning of Kakashi's words. _Don't tell them what their supposed to do at lunch_. That was what he meant.

Kagome then pulled out her own bento and got to work eating her rice balls, keeping a close eye on Sasuke and Sakura. She smirked behind her rice ball when she saw Sasuke hand Naruto his lunch. She smirked even more when she saw Sakura give her lunch to Naruto. "Y'know," Kagome said, showing her smirk. "You could give him the lunch that was supposed to be mine, I don't have a use for it."

She full out grinned when she saw them all scared when Kakashi reappeared. "YOU GUYS…!" he started, yelling. "Pass," he finished calmly.

When Kagome saw all her teammates shocked faces, Kagome full out laughed. The weird part was, even though they'd never heard Kagome laugh before, they didn't even seem to care. Kagome once again tuned out Kakashi, who was currently talking about how people who abandon their comrades are lower than trash.

She tuned back in when she heard Naruto yelling. She looked up and saw Sakura, Sasuke, Kakashi, and herself walking away from Naruto, who was still tied to the stump.

"Heheh, sorry Naruto," Kagome said, cutting the rope with her kunai. "I guess Honey did a transformation while I wasn't looking." Then she started to leave as well, seeing as Naruto can now do as he wants.

-^-v-^-v-^-v-^-v-^-v

hope you all enjoyed it, now REVIEW cuz i like 'em


	3. Chapter 3

**I don't care if you hate the song I'm about to say I don't own, cuz I looked it up online and I thought it got the message across. I don't own Dangerous to Know by Hilary Duff**

"_Soul talk_" (don't ask)

"_Inu talk_"

"_**Singing**_"

"**Neko talk**"

-^-v-^-v-^-v-^-v-^-v

Chapter 3

"Sasuke, I'm at point b," was heard over the intercom device.

"Sakura, I'm at point c."

"Kagome, I'm at point d."

"Naruto, I'm at point a," was heard after the others were done.

"You're slow, Naruto," came Kakashi's reply. "Okay, squad seven- hm?"

"The target has moved. Follow it."

"It's over there," Naruto whispered.

"What's your distance from the target?" Kakashi asked.

"Five meters. I'm ready, just give the signal."

"I'm ready, too," Sasuke voiced.

"So am I," Sakura agreed.

"Same here," and that obviously came from Kagome.

"Okay….. Now!" Kakashi said.

They jumped out of their hiding places and jumped for the target. Naruto, reaching it first, scooped up the cat, only to have it claw at him.

"Come here, kitty. I won't hurt you," Kagome said, crouching down a few feet away.

The cat, a little surprised, looked in her direction.

"What's wrong, girl, why do you keep running away?"

"**Why should I tell you? You can't even understand me**!"

"Ya think so?" Kagome replied, surprising the cat.

"**You **_**can**_** understand me**?" Getting a nod, she continued. "**My owner, when she pets me, she basically crushes me. I don't mind the attention, it's just… I don't like it in that form**…"

"I'll see what I can do!"

Later, when they were in the mission room, and had just returned the cat, Tora, to the Lord of the Fire country's wife, Madam Shijimi, she was, as Tora had said earlier, basically crushing her.

"Um, excuse me?" Kagome said, stepping up to them, Tora crying for her help.

"Oh, yes?" she asked, stopping her coddling.

"I think I know why Tora keeps running away."

"Really? Why?" She really wanted Tora to be kept safe.

"She really likes the attention you give her, but, while you do it, you hold her too tight. Here, let me help." Kagome then proceeded to adjust Madam Shijimi's arms so Tora was in a comfortable position and would still get the same attention.

Tora then started purring very loudly. "I've never heard Tora purr this loudly before. Thank you!" Then, she left.

Kagome, not really caring what the next mission was, just listen to what the Hokage was saying, trying to figure out if she could take Honey with her. Hearing Naruto complain about how he wanted a better mission, she smirked behind her hand. She knew that the Hokage would end up giving them the mission to the Land of Waves, so she tuned them out and made a mental checklist to make sure she had everything in her crimson sack. So, while Kagome was completely oblivious to the fact that Naruto was about to kill the bridge builder, Tazuna, Kakashi was holding Naruto back.

"Morning Honey," Kagome yawned. She then made some bacon. She set some out for Honey, and ate her own. When they left the house, they made their way to the gate. Once everyone was there, they set off. Once they set off, Naruto was cheering like an idiot, this being his first time out of the village.

After a while, they came across a puddle. Honey, knowing her partner didn't want to draw attention to the fact that they knew, simply walked by, barely sparing it a glance. Kagome, on the other hand, glared ahead of her. She then put her left hand on the top of the sheath of her sword and flicked her thumb in such a way that her sword was out by about an inch, making it easier to pull if need be.

When the enemy came out of the puddle and attacked, Kagome figured that they saw what she did with her sword, considering the fact that they came after not only Kakashi, but Kagome too. Kagome quickly deflected the chains headed her way with her sword, but 'Kakashi' wasn't so lucky. He got torn to shreds.

So, the battle began. It ended about thirty seconds later after Sasuke saved the frozen Naruto, Sakura tried to protect Tazuna, but Kagome had to step in and knock both of the enemy-nin out with the hilt of her sword.

"I overestimated them. I didn't need my sword at all, could've just used a kunai. You can come out now, Kakashi-sensei," Kagome announced.

"How'd ya know I was there?"

"I have ways, Kakashi-sensei, I have ways."

While Naruto was sulking and Sasuke was taunting him, Kagome walked up to Naruto and took a look at his hand. She felt her purification power bubbling to the surface when the poisoned blood touched her fingers.

"You've been poisoned, Naruto," Kagome announced.

"Huh?" Naruto asked disbelievingly.

"You've been poisoned. We need to get it out now." _I could just purify it_, Kagome thought, _but then they'd think I had a poison-dispersing kekkei genkai, or something, besides, Naruto needs to make that oath of pain, or whatever it is he did_.

So, that's what Naruto did. When Kakashi announced that he shouldn't move around or he'd die, Kagome knocked him out with the hilt of her sword, much like she did with the enemy-nin.

"Sorry, Kakashi-sensei, but he would've continued to move about and lose all his blood. I'll bandage him up now," Kagome said, pulling her crimson sack off her left shoulder. She reached inside and pulled out the needed ointment and bandages.

After she was done, they headed out again. When they got on the boat, Tazuna started to explain. "It turns out that a super dangerous man is after my life."

"Who?" Kakashi asked.

"You've probably heard his name before. The wealthy shipping magnate, a man named Gatou."

"Gatou," Kagome said. "On the surface, he looks clean and tidy, running a large shipping business, but under the surface, and he's a cruel evil man. He sells drugs and other illegal items. He hires ninja and gang members to do his dirty work for him. Things like taking over countries that can't protect themselves. He quickly took over the Wave country's shipping industry about a year ago. His business is now a monopoly. He controls everything that comes in and out of the Wave country. His monopoly is being threated by the completion of the bridge, so he's sent for Tazuna's life. Tazuna didn't say that there would be ninja involved in this mission because he knew it would a b rank, something he couldn't afford. The Wave grew so poor that the feudal lord barely has any money."

"How'd… you know all that?" Tazuna asked.

"Like I said to Kakashi-sensei before, Tazuna, I have my way. I think that we should continue the mission all the way through. I think that it'll be interesting. What does everyone else think?"

"_Heck yeah_!" Honey exclaimed.

"I'm in!" Naruto immediately said.

"Hn," was Sasuke's answer, but you could tell that it was a yes.

Sakura, not wanting to be caught being scared, quickly agreed.

"What about you, Kakashi-sensei?" Kagome asked, smirking.

"I guess I'm out numbered."

"Great! So we'll see the mission through to the end."

"Thanks," Tazuna said, smiling.

"This is as far as I go," the boatman said.

"Thank you very much," Kagome said, smiling.

They were soon walking through a forest. Not one to be shown up, Naruto ran ahead and threw a shuriken into the bushes. After throwing another shuriken into the bushes opposite, Kagome went to check on what he hit, and noticed a white snow rabbit two inches under where the shuriken hit.

"Kakashi-sensei?" Kagome asked. He nodded, knowing what she was asking.

Kagome then closed her eyes and spread out her aura. It was calming to her teammates, plus Tazuna, but to the enemy that she could now feel not too far away, it scared him shitless. While Kakashi pushed everyone down, Kagome put up a barrier around them, just incase the trajectory of the large cleaver-like sword changed direction. When the sword lodged itself into a nearby tree, a nin landed on it.

"Zabuza Momochi, aka the demon of the bloody mist and missing-nin," Kagome stated calmly, like she didn't just say that this guy was supposed to be a demon.

"Ah, it seems my reputation precedes me. I didn't know that even a Leaf Village genin right out of the academy could tell who I was."

"It doesn't. You just so happened to be the guy I was expecting."

"How'd you know I was coming?"

"I have my ways."

"Protect Tazuna, don't get involved in this fight. That's the teamwork here," Kakashi said, pulling up his forehead protector, revealing a red eye with three black tomoe, aka the Sharingan. (Ugh, we already know how this goes, so I'm gonna skip to when he imprisons kakashi)

"Hehe, wearing forehead protectors and acting like real ninja… But you know what? A real ninja is someone who has survived numerous brushes with death. Basically, once you're good enough to be listed in my handbook, then you can start calling yourself a ninja… You guys should not be referred to as ninja."

"By that logic," Kagome said, coming out of nowhere and slicing through the water clone with ease. "I became a ninja way before my ninja training even started!"

"Huh?" the real Zabuza said when she disappeared again.

"You should really watch your surroundings," Kagome said, appearing two inches from his face.

Out of reflex, he brought his free hand back and jabbed it into Kagome's chest, sending her flying back. Before she could land on her back, she twisted midair and landed on her feet, sliding back. Zabuza quickly made two water clones, one that was harder to kill to keep Kagome busy, the other to do what the original clone's mission was.

"You think you're all that, just because you surprised me?" the clone said, grabbing his huge sword.

"No, I think I'm all that cuz I'm gonna beat all of your asses so you won't feel 'em 'til next year, if you live that long," Kagome said, drawing her sword.

"So it's a sword battle you want? So be it," he said, lunging at Kagome, sword ready to cut through flesh.

The sound of metal against metal was his reward for his actions. He smirked and put some pressure on his end. He frowned when he felt her put twice the pressure on her end, resulting in his weapon to go flying in the opposite direction of her teammates.

"Heh, you're better than I expected, but I'll still kill you."

"_You'll have to go through me first_!" Honey exclaimed, appearing from behind. She bit his butt, and he instantly turned into water.

"Thanks Honey." She got a nod in return.

They were about to turn back to the fight when they saw a huge title wave coming towards them. Kagome quickly set up a barrier so they wouldn't get swept away by it.

When the title wave was done, Kagome put down the barrier, just in time to see a new nin send two senbon to Zabuza's neck. Kagome, not at all caring about the new nin, was glaring at Zabuza. She could see his aura. While it was weaker than it had been, this was only a simulation of death. She was so busy trying to figure this all out, she completely forgot that she had seen this part of _Naruto_ and why his life force was still there. She didn't even notice when the nin left with Zabuza's body. She did, however, notice when her sensei collapsed.

"Exhaustion," Kagome said, giving Kakashi's aura a quick look. While an aura can't tell you everything that's wrong with a person, it can tell you if someone's just exhausted, or if they needed a proper check-up. "I'll carry him back." She then proceeded to put Kakashi on her back and follow after Tazuna.

"Are you alright sensei?" Tsunami, Tazuna's daughter, asked when he woke up.

"Yeah… I just can't move for a week or so," was Kakashi's reply.

"What? The Sharingan is incredible, but if it puts that much stress on your body, I guess you have to think before using it," Sakura said.

"Well, we defeated that strong of a ninja this time," Tazuna said. "We shall be safe for a while."

"By the way, who was that masked kid?" Sakura asked.

"That's the mask worn by the Hidden Mist's special Hunter-nin team," Kakashi stated. "They are also known as body erasers. Their duty is to completely dispose of the body without a trace." After Kakashi explained the rest and fell asleep, Kagome walked in, ear bud in ear and a pail of fish in her hand, with Honey in tow.

She took her ear bud out and asked, "What were you talkin' about?"

"Hunter-nins duties and that we're glad that Zabuza's dead," Sakura said immediately.

Kagome's face grew dark. "About that… He's-" she was cut off by Kakashi shooting up, awake. "He's not dead," she finished.

"Wh-what?" Sakura asked.

"I could see his aura. It was weaker than normal, but it was still there. He was put into a death-like state. The hunter-nin wasn't a real one. He was working with Zabuza."

"What do you mean 'see his aura'?" Naruto asked.

"NOTHING!" Kagome said quickly.

Naruto, being as dense as he his, took it as the truth and left it at that. Sakura and Sasuke, however, were looking at Kagome suspiciously. Kagome, not wanting anymore questions, said, "I'm gonna train with Honey if you need me," and left, listening to her iPod.

Sakura, being the ever-curious one, made up an excuse and left after Kagome. Sasuke just left without a word a minute later. When they finally found Kagome, she was sitting in a clearing, subconsciously petting Honey, who was sitting in her lap. She took out one ear bud.

"I wish we could tell them…" Kagome said quietly, totally forgetting the safety precaution of speaking inu. "But there's no way they would believe me. especially since I look so different." She sighed. "What do you think, Honey?"

At this, Honey jumped out of her lap and crawled into the crimson bag she always carries around. She came out dragging the portable iHome with her. She then barked about something only Kagome could understand, and Kagome put her iPod in place, found the song, and pressed play. A song started to play.

"_**Some secrets need to be kept**_

_**Some stories should never be told**_

_**Some reasons shouldn't be understood**_

_**They just might turn your blood cold**_

_**Who needs all the answers?**_

_**Who takes all the chances?**_

_**Who said the truth's gonna save you?**_

_**When the truth can be dangerous**_

_**Like the way I feel**_

_**It's alright to steal**_

_**What I need from you**_

_**Do what I have to do**_

_**Say what I have to say**_

_**Go where I have to go**_

_**And that's dangerous**_

_**Dangerous to know (know)(know)(know)**_

_**I was a law onto myself**_

_**When you found me out on my own**_

_**Together nothing was sacred**_

_**Together we where alone**_

_**Who needs all the questions?**_

_**Who lost their direction?**_

_**Who said a lie's gonna break you?**_

_**When a lie could be dangerous**_

_**Like the way I feel**_

_**It's alright to steal**_

_**What I need from you**_

_**Do what I have to do**_

_**Say what I have to say**_

_**Go where I have to go**_

_**And that's dangerous**_

_**Dangerous to know**_

_**Ignorance is bliss**_

_**You're safe when you resist**_

_**There's no safety in a kiss like this**_

_**It's dangerous**_

_**So kiss me**_

_**Kiss me**_

_**Like the way I feel**_

_**It's alright to steal**_

_**What I need from you**_

_**Do what I have to do**_

_**Say what I have to say**_

_**Go where I have to go**_

_**And that's dangerous**_

_**Dangerous**_

_**Like the way I feel**_

_**It's alright to steal**_

_**What I need from you**_

_**Do what I have to do**_

_**Say what I have to say**_

_**Go where I have to go**_

_**And that's dangerous**_

_**Dangerous to know (know)(know)(know)**_

_**Some secrets need to be kept**_"

"Yeah, I guess that song does describe my life," Kagome said with a sad smile. "You two can come out, ya know. I know you're there."

So, Sakura and Sasuke came out of hiding. "What way that thing you refused to tell us," Sakura said, straight to the point.

"Did you not just hear the song?" Kagome asked, disbelieving.

"I don't care how dangerous it is, if it jeopardizes the mission, you will tell us," Sasuke warned, walking away.

"What it is… it's for the Hokage's ears only. Sorry, Sakura. Now I'm really gonna go train." Kagome then packed everything up and walked away, leaving Sakura alone.

"Ok, we will now start the training," Kakashi said.

"HECK YEAH!" Naruto yelled.

(blah blah blah, stuffs bout chakra, etc. sorry, I just hate typing pointless parts like this)

"By wasting your energy, you won't be able to fight as long. These kinds of weaknesses will appear," Kakashi said.

"So… what should we do?" Naruto asked.

"Learn how to control it. Through very tough training."

"What are we going to do…?" Sakura asked.

"Hmm…? Tree climbing!"

"But Kakashi-sensei, I've been an expert at this since I did it by accident once!" Kagome complained. "Can I go practice a jutsu I've been developing?"

"Only if you can walk up to the top of that tree without stopping on your first try," he said, pointing to the highest tree in the clearing.

Kagome looked it over. "I've climbed higher," she concluded. So, within minutes, she was at a very thin part of the tree. "Sensei," they faintly heard. "If I go up any higher, the top of the tree will break. Can I come down now and call it a win?"

Kakashi sighed. "I guess so," he yelled up to Kagome. "Don't want you getting hurt on my watch." When Kagome came back down, he asked, "So, what's this jutsu you're developing?"

"I don't wanna say 'til it's done, but it has something to do with water," she said before racing off.

When Kagome arrived at a lake deep enough to do what she's trying, she walked in until she was up to her neck. Then she walked in deeper, to where she was completely submerged and had a good amount of room between the surface and her. She then started to do hand signs, slowed down some by the water. _Ninja Art: Water Breath Jutsu_, Kagome thought. She then took in a breath of water, but ended up choking on it and swimming back to shore.

"If I can fix that, then I'll be good in fresh water. I still need to find a way to remove the salt in salt water so it will act like fresh water. But, wait… I still need to find a way to keep my eyes open without harming them. I've been working on this basically since I got here, I gotta figure this out."

Nodding to herself she decided to try again. This time with a sprinkle more spiritual energy. When she took in a breath, it was like she was breathing air. _Got that figured out. Let's see if I go back to normal above water_. And, lucky her, she could breathe water and air when she had the jutsu activated. _Now to find a way to keep my eyes open. Maybe if I put some ki around my eyes, it will act like a barrier._

With that thought, she did the jutsu again, only this time, she concentrated some ki into her eyes. She was so surprised that it worked on her first try that she lost her concentration on her eye-barriers and water got in her eye. It surprisingly didn't sting like she expected. So, she deactivated the jutsu and found that it did hurt her eyes without it. _I guess it's a package deal_…

When she got out of the water, Sakura had walked into the clearing. "Hey Sakura, what's up?"

"Dinner's ready, I was sent to get you."

"Dinner?" Looking up at the sky, she was surprised to see that it was already dark. "I guess time flies when you're working out the flaws of a new jutsu."

So, they walked back. And had dinner with the rest.

The next day, Kagome was going to train her jutsu in the salt water by the bridge, incase there was any danger, and Sakura was going to watch over Tazuna directly. Honey wasn't with Kagome today because she doesn't like to help Kagome with developing this jutsu.

_Getting rid of the salt before it enters my system… Maybe I could- no, that wouldn't work. Maybe if I added- no, that'd mess up the entire process altogether. What can I do? If I change anything, it'll mess up the whole formula, but if I let the salt into my system… Actually, now that I think about it, the only thing different would be my sodium intake. I think I'll try it as is and see how it goes._

So, she walked in until there was a few feet of water between her head and the surface. She flashed through the hand signs, and tried to breathe. Only, there was nothing different between the salt water and the fresh water. While air felt light and clean, fresh water felt heavy, but tasty, and salt water felt the same. There wasn't even the tang of salt. _Maybe it's because it's called the 'water breath jutsu'_? she guessed.

At dinner, Sasuke and Naruto were trying to out eat each other, resulting in them both barfing. "You guys are idiots," Kagome muttered, putting the rest of her food on the floor for Honey.

"Hey… Why do you have a torn picture on the wall?" Sakura asked. "Inari was staring at this during dinner. It seems like someone purposely removed the person that was in the picture."

Suddenly, Tsunami, Tazuna, and Inari's expressions grew sad. "It's my husband…" Tsunami said.

"And… the man called the hero of the city…" Tazuna added.

Suddenly Inari got up and left.

Kagome was walking through the forest with a plate in her hands. She was trying to find Naruto and give him his breakfast, but the smell of food overwhelmed every other scent. She, luckily, stumbled across him talking to what looked like a girl, but the aura told of a boy. The aura also told of something else.

"Naruto!" Kagome called, stepping out of the trees.

"Huh? Oh, hi Kagome!" Naruto called.

"Naruto, will you leave me alone with her for a second? I need to tell her something," Kagome said, pointing at the feminine boy.

"Um… kay." When he left, she turned to the boy.

"If you harm Naruto between now and when the fight happens, you're dead. You kill one of my friends, you're dead. Basically, do anything I don't like before the fight and you die." Kagome then started to walk out of the clearing. "Oh, and say hello to Zabuza for me," she said over her shoulder, surprising him.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

"Has anyone seen Kagome lately?" Sakura asked.

"I haven't seen her since she offered to bring Naruto breakfast," Tsunami said.

"Same here," said the rest. Honey just wined, obviously bored without her partner to keep her company.

"Maybe we should leave without her," Kakashi suggested. They were leaving Naruto, why not let Kagome sit this one out too.

So, they headed of.

Meanwhile, it the forest, Kagome could be seen punching the ground with her left fist. "One thousand one hundred and ten! One thousand one hundred and eleven! One thousand one hundred and twelve!" Could be heard as she was punching until she finally reached one thousand one hundred and twenty. "That's enough for my left hand, now for my right. One! Two! Three!" and she started the process over again.

By the time she was done, her fists were sore, but her miko ki was subconsciously healing them. _I need to get to the bridge. I have a bad feeling about today_.

With that thought, she raced off towards the bridge. She made it just in time to see the hidden mist jutsu start taking affect. It looked like she appeared in front of Tazuna because she used her speed. At their surprised faces, she smirked. "I had a bad feeling about today, I was hoping I was wrong for once."

"Long time no see Kakashi," was heard through the mist. "I see you're still with those brats… he's shaking again… poor kid." Zabuza was referring to Sasuke, they all knew it.

Suddenly, there were Zabuza clones all around. Suddenly, they heard Sasuke say, "I'm shaking from excitement!"

"Do it, Sasuke," Kakashi said.

Then, before anyone could blink, Sasuke had taken out every water clone.

"Hmm… He saw through the water clones. That brat has grown," Zabuza concluded. "It looks like a rival has appeared… eh Haku?"

"It does indeed," the fake hunter-nin said.

"I told ya so!" Kagome said, seeing as everyone else thought she was crazy for thinking that, minus Kakashi.

"Looks like you were right, Kagome," Kakashi said.

(I soooo cant take writing every single word with Kagome only interjecting that one time, so I am skipping to when Kakashi is giving each of his students a title. Also, sorry for all the time skips, it gets a little confusing, doesn't it?)

"I can't have you underestimating my team by calling them 'brats'," Kakashi said. "Sasuke is the Leaf Village's number 1 rookie. Sakura is the brightest in the village. Kagome, while only having one year of ninja training, was almost able to beat Sasuke. And the other one is… the show-off, hyper-active, number one loudest ninja in the village."

Zabuza then started chuckling. "Haku, do you realize? At this rate we'll be driven back."

"Yeah. We can't have that…" Haku said, powering up a jutsu. "Special Jutsu: Demonic Ice Mirrors!"

Sheets of water were rising all around Sasuke and freezing, causing there to be a dome of mirrors surrounding him. Haku then stepped into one of the mirrors and his reflection appeared on every mirror.

Kagome, knowing what was about to happen, ran to the mirrors and drew her sword, but it seemed Zabuza had been expecting this because a water clone appeared out of nowhere. "Your fight's with me, girly," it said. This clone seemed almost as powerful as the real one.

"You finally done underestimating me?" Kagome asked.

"Heh… you'd think that, wouldn't you, but now I think I'm overestimating you…"

"Enough talk, now we fight!" Kagome yelled, charging.

They fought with their swords for most of the time that everyone else was fighting, but to them, it felt like it all happened in a matter of seconds. Kagome had heard Naruto appear, but hadn't paid him any mind, still trying to best the Zabuza clone.

When she felt Sasuke's aura weaken like Zabuza's had, and felt immediately a certain aura rise out of Naruto, destroying the Zabuza clone, Kagome grew scared. Not for the health of any of her friends, no, she'd seen enough episodes to know that they'd turn out okay. She was worried about who's aura was coming from Naruto. She knew Naruto was the vessel for the nine-tail fox, but she had never given any thought as to if she had ever known them. The aura she felt felt dangerously close to Shippo's, but, yet, not.

When she looked around, Kagome saw that Naruto had already punched the mask off of Haku, Haku had already gotten in the way of the Chidori of Kakashi's, and Gatou had arrived with his goons.

"Hiring a normal ninja from the village is expensive and they may betray me…" Gatou started. "So I get you missing-nin who are easier to take care of afterwards. I have the ninja battle each other and once they're weakened I kill them off with numbers… It doesn't cost me anything, good plan don't you think? The only problem in the plan was you… Zabuza. The demon of the bloody mist? What a joke if you ask me… You're just a… cute little baby demon."

"WE CAN EASILY KILL YOU NOW!" they heard someone yell from the crowd.

"Kakashi I'm sorry… this fight is over," Zabuza said. "Now that I have no reason to go after Tazuna I have no reason to fight you."

"You're right," Kakashi agreed.

"Oh yeah… I owe this one… You squeezed my arm until it broke…" Gatou said, kicking the dead body of Haku.

"Kakashi-sensei, can I kick these guys asses?" Kagome asked.

"Your call. I know that you can take them. Naruto, I'm not so sure about."

Kagome started to walk toward the crowd of men. None of them were in the least bit afraid of her. She stopped when she reached Haku's body, seeing his soul hovering close by. "Bye Haku," Kagome said, waving at Haku's soul, which seemed surprised that she could see him. "Now!" Kagome said, gaining the crowd's attention. "Are we gonna start this party, or what?" With that, the first two lines of men leaped at her from all directions. "Pathetic…" she muttered.

She brought her middle and index finger together on her right hand and folded her other fingers in. She quickly put such a large consentration of her ki into those two finger that it quickly formed a pink whip. Kagome then started to spin in circles with her two fingers in the air. It looked like when Sesshomaru used his youki whip on the wolves while he was looking for his father's grave.

"Anyone else wanna be demolished?" Kagome asked oh-so-innocently, pulling back in to ki whip. When no one stepped up, she went back to where she previously was, watching the goons with emotionless eyes.

While Kagome was killing the goons, Naruto had been trying to get Zabuza to admit that Haku was his friend.

"Kid, let me borrow your kunai!" she heard Zabuza say to Naruto.

After Zabuza had it in his mouth, seeing as neither of his arms works, Zabuza charged the crowd of goons, making a direct line to Gatou, not even caring that he was getting hit with weapons.

After Zabuza decapitated Gatou, he fell over, near death.

"Damn ninja… You killed our meal ticket…!" someone yelled.

"You guys are dead!" yelled another.

"Now we're gonna pillage this city and take anything of value!" said a voice above the rest.

"Yeah!" the rest agreed. The crowd then started charging.

Kagome started to walk away from the crowd of charging goons, but it went unnoticed by all. Suddenly, a crossbow arrow came from the direction Kagome walked off in. everyone looked in that direction to see Kagome and Inari standing in front of a crowd of the villagers, all armed with whatever they had. Kagome had her sword drawn and pointed at the goons, and Inari had the crossbow that fired the arrow.

"If you come any further on this island, the citizens of this country will stop you with everything we've got!" a villager called.

"Inari… You…" Tazuna said softly.

"Inari!" Naruto called.

"Hehe, a hero shows up at the last second right?" Inari said.

Then Kakashi and Naruto made shadow clones of themselves, freaking the goons out. Then something happened to push their fear over the edge. Kagome walked in front of the army of shadow clones and villagers, her eyes glowing purplish-pink, and her sword doing the same. "If you don't leave now," she said. "You will all die an extremely slow and painful death…"

Then, all the goons were so scared, they started running towards the unfinished side of the bridge, filing into the large boat that they came in. "We did it!" the villagers cheered.

Kakashi then walked over to the fallen Zabuza. "It looks like it's over… Kakashi…" he said.

"Yes…"

Then, Kagome walked over to Haku, who's soul was still there, seeming to be waiting for something. It was starting to snow when she reached him. "Ya know, Haku… I'm going to do you a favor…" Kagome said. "I'm going to purify Zabuza's soul enough so he can go with you…"

"_Th-thank you, Kagome…_" said Haku's soul. She gave him a nod.

When Kakashi set Zabuza's body by Haku's, she heard him say, "If I could… I'd like to… go to the same place… as you…"

She then went to the other side of the pair. "I told Haku that I would do that, if you'll let me," Kagome told him.

At his nod, he felt a warmth flood through him, before he passed.

"_Thanks,_" Zabuza's soul said, glad. She gave him a nod, before the spirit guide (like from Yu Yu Hakusho) appeared, taking them with her. She waved good-bye to them, everyone else thinking that she's crazy.

Two weeks later, they were at the grave that they built for Haku and Zabuza. While Sakura, Sasuke, and Naruto were talking to Kakashi about how a ninja was supposed to be a tool, Kagome was kneeling at the graves, praying. Kagome smiled when she heard Naruto's declaration that he would be a ninja in his own way.

When it came time for them to leave, Honey was hopping all over the place, having forgotten her special treats at home, while Naruto and Inari were trying their best to hold in their tears. They had grown close during their time at the Wave country. When they finally started to walk down the bridge, Kagome's sensitive hearing picked up something on the wind. Something that she smiled at. "Well I have a super perfect name for this bridge… how about… _The Great Naruto Bridge_?"

-^-v-^-v-^-v-^-v-^-v

I hope you enjoyed, but I'm sorry if there's no suspense. I love to write long chapters, so my chapters are usually about 11-15 pages long. I also only write the things that I change, because I get sooooo bored writing everything word for word…

AAAaaaanyway, REVIEW!


	4. Chapter 4

"_Inu_"

-^-v-^-v-^-v-^-v-^-v

Chapter 4

Kagome and Honey made it to the bridge just in time to see Sasuke and Naruto turn away after glaring at each other. _And they're still doing it… wait, this scene looks familiar… is it almost time for the chuunin exams? Not looking forward to being invaded. Maybe I should tell the Hokage to at least be semi-prepared? No, they made it through this without the information in the anime and manga. If I tell him, the Hokage may not die in the fight with Orochimaru, and then Tsunade won't become Hokage_.

She was so caught up in her thoughts, she didn't even hear Naruto when he asked her if she was alright.

"Kagome!" he yelled in her face, shaking her.

"Wh-what?"

"You've been spaced out for at least ten minutes, are you okay?" Sakura asked.

"I'm fine, just remembered something…" Kagome said, trailing off.

"_Something about the timeline_?" Honey asked. She nodded.

"Hey, why don't we listen to some music?" Naruto suggested.

Kagome smiled and took out her iPod and iHome, and picked a random song, careful not to put a depressing song on.

Hours later, Kakashi arrived. Kagome quickly turned off the song and put her stuff back in her bag. She tuned out the usual routine, and listened only for what their mission would be.

The first of their missions was to pull out all the weeds from someone's herb garden. Kagome, who was working in view of what Naruto was doing, saw him pulling out everything, not just the weeds. "Naruto," Kagome said, coming over to squat next to him. "You're pulling out the herbs, you're only supposed to pull out the weeds."

Naruto looked at the pile of things he pulled out. "I don't see a difference," he said, causing Kagome to face palm.

"Naruto," she said, picking up one of the herbs and one of the weeds. "This one is a weed. It sucks the nutrients out of the soil so the other plants can't grow. This one is an herb. It has medicinal purposes. The lady who requested this mission probably wanted to use the herbs for something-"

She was interrupted by the lady. "That's right! Those were special herbs I've been growing and you've destroyed them!" She then proceeded to start beating Naruto into the ground.

At the next mission in the string of missions for the day, they were supposed to clean up the river. Kagome and Honey were called to the Hokage's office, so they weren't there. "You wanted to see us, Lord Hokage?"

"Yes. I know you know that the chuunin selection exams are coming soon. I wanted to know if you were fine with, if you made it to the third exam, you would just be fighting one fight, a fight against the winner."

"That sounds do-able. Is that all?"

"Yes, dismissed."

"Before I go, I wanted to ask you something."

"Hm… Go ahead,"

"I wanted to know if I could carve a few more symbols onto my forehead protector, to show my loyalty to my friends."

"I don't see why not, so long as the Leaf symbol is the most prominent one."

"Thank you." Then she left.

When she made it back to the river, she saw that Naruto was wet, partly sulking, and partly angry.

On the last mission, they were supposed to be walking someone's dogs. There were two small dogs, and one big dog. Naruto chose the big dog, while Sakura and Sasuke got the small dogs. It was Kagome's job to make sure Honey kept the dogs in line.

The only problem was that the big dog refused to listen to Honey and was pulling Naruto towards a booby trapped area. "_I'm the highest ranking second alpha around, you will listen to me_!" Honey barked, trying to get him to listen.

"_You're not the alpha of my pack. Besides, I like to mess with the ninja that walk me. It's all I have to do for fun. Unlike those two, I'm not a lap dog_."

"_Guess I can't really tell you not to do it. I'm no hypocrite_," Honey conceded. Kagome just shook her head at that.

On the walk back through the Leaf, Naruto and Sasuke were arguing and were about to get into a fight. "Alright, alright, break it up you two!" Kagome said, stepping in between them, arms out. "We don't need you two killing each other."

They then heard a bird call. Looking up, they saw what looked like a hawk circling overhead.

"Well," Kakashi said. "I have to file the mission report."

"I'm going to leave now," Kagome said. She then leaned down to Honey and whispered, "Honey, can you stay with Naruto for now?" At her nod, she was instantly on the roof, secretly watching them.

She saw when Sasuke left, and when he said something put Sakura down. She saw Kakashi leave, and when Konohamaru and his friends, Udon and Moegi, appeared in a box colored to look like the rocks on the street with two eye hole cut out of it. She also saw when Sakura beat on Naruto and Konohamaru, and when she started to chase them.

_Yep_, Kagome thought, _definitely the 'episode' I thought it was. I'll interfere before Sasuke throws the pebble, so Naruto doesn't spaz out too much_.

And, two seconds before Sasuke would've thrown the pebble, Kagome raced down there, using her speed. She seemed to appear in Kankuro's face, before kneeing his jaw. As soon as he released Konohamaru, she grabbed him and raced back to the other Leaf citizens. "Heh," she said. "I expected you to at least sense me."

"Grr… not another one!" Kankuro said, standing up while holding his jaw.

He made a move to attack, but was stopped by a pebble by Sasuke. They all turned to see Sasuke, but Kagome was trying to pinpoint the only person within 100 feet of their position that had two auras. Naruto doesn't count in that category because, when the demon is inactive, the aura is practically nonexistent. When she finally found it, she looked up in the tree and saw Gaara hanging upside down.

"Kankuro… back off…" Gaara said. "You're an embarrassment to our village. Have you forgotten the reason we came all the way here."

(this part makes me laugh to hard whenever I see/read it. Besides, you should already know it.)

Turning towards his head towards them, Gaara said, "I'm sorry… for any trouble he caused." He then teleported through sand to be between Temari and Kankuro. "Let's go. We didn't come here to play games."

_This guy's second aura… feels almost like Hachi's… it's like with Shippo and the nine-tail… did they get sealed in as demon vessels_?

"Hold on. Hey!" Sakura said to the departing Sand-nin, bringing Kagome out of La La Land.

"What." Temari said, annoyed.

"I can tell from your headband that you come from the Village Hidden in the Sand. Of course the Land of Fire and the Land of Wind are allies, but no shinobi can enter another's village without permission. So state your purpose, and it better be good."

"Sakura, they're here for the chuunin exams," Kagome said, trying to sooth Honey. Honey could also feel the aura that was so close to Hachi's, and she wanted to know why it was there.

"That's right," Temari said.

"The chuunin exams, what's that?" Naruto asked, clueless.

"Naruto, are you really that dense?" Kagome asked, dumbfounded. "The title is pretty self-explanatory. It's the exams you take to become a chuunin."

"Hey, You!" Sasuke said, dropping from his place in the tree. "Identify yourself."

"Hm? You mean me?" Temari said hopefully.

"No, him. The guy with the gourd on his back."

"My name is Gaara of the Desert. I'm curious about you too. Who are you? And that girl in the silver?"

"I am Sasuke Uchiha."

"My name's Kagome Higurashi," Kagome said, surprising the three Sand genin.

"Hi there! I bet you're dying to know my name, right?" Naruto said, interrupting the little stare down Gaara and Sasuke were having.

"I couldn't care less," Gaara said instantly, leaving a sad Naruto. Then, the Sand-nin left. Kagome left soon after, this time taking Honey with her.

"_You noticed the double aura on that Gaara guy too, right_?" Honey asked.

"Yeah, and that the other one seemed so much like Hachi's."

"_You know, there is a chance that some of our friends are these supposed tailed beasts_…"

"No, I refuse to believe that."

The next day at the bridge, Kagome and Honey arrived just in time to hear Sakura say, "That's really disgusting, Naruto." Knowing what they were talking about, Kagome decided not to ask.

Kakashi suddenly appeared on one of the arches. "Hey, good morning everyone. Sorry I'm late, afraid I got lost on the path of life."

"YOU LIAR!" And, with that, the morning routine was finished.

He then jumped down in front of them. "I know this is a bit sudden, but I recommended you for the chuunin exams, all four of you. These are the application forms," he said, handing them the forms. Honey, now used to being a 'package deal' with Kagome, didn't get offended when she was left out.

"Application forms," Sakura repeated.

"You're repeating me, Sakura. This is all voluntary. It's up to each of you. If you don't feel ready, you can wait 'til next year."

Kagome tuned out everything after, having already memorized this scene. When Kagome saw them walk away, but Sakura stopped suddenly, Kagome walked up to her. "If you want," she said. "I can make sure you're up to par with what the chuunin exams will through at you."

"Oh, th-thank you, but no thanks," Sakura said, walking off.

"Hey guys!" Kagome said as she and Honey arrived. Naruto had gotten there not thirty seconds earlier. "Let's go in, since we're all here."

As they walked in, they saw a crowd outside what almost everyone thought was room three-zero-one. Kagome was one of the few that didn't fall for it. Why? Because every Genjutsu placed on her instantly dissolves before her eyes, but if it's a Genjutsu placed on multiple people, like the one with the sign, it only dissolves for her.

When they got to the crowd of people, they saw two 'genin' talking down to a guy with a bowl haircut and bushy eyebrows who was wearing green spandex. "Please… let us through…" a girl wearing a Chinese style shirt and loose pants, with two hair buns said, only for the 'genin' in front of the door to hit her, sending her flying back.

Kagome, recognizing her, ran in front of where she would land, and caught her midair. "Long time, no see, eh, TenTen?" Kagome said.

"Kagome?" she whispered.

"The one and only." Kagome then walked back to her team. "Can we hurry up, we need to get to the third floor, and I don't wanna stand here all day!" Kagome complained, earning confused remarks from the crowd.

"So you noticed…" the 'genin' on the left said.

"Duh! Sakura, you can see it too, right?" Kagome asked.

"Of course, this is the second floor." The two 'genin' then took down the Genjutsu on the hallway.

(blah blah, lee stops Sasuke and one of the 'genin's' kicks, blah blah)

"Hey," a guy with the same eyes as Hinata and bandages covering his entire right arm and leg said to the spandex boy. "What happened to the plan? I thought you were the one who said to keep a low profile and don't let anyone see our skill level."

"I know, but…" spandex boy said, looking at Sakura and blushing.

"Never mind, it's over, forget it," bun girl said.

Spandex boy then walked in front of Sakura. "My name is Rock Lee. You are Sakura, right? Please be my girlfriend. I vow to protect you with my life," he said, giving her a thumbs up and a shiny smile.

"Definitely… not," was his answer.

"Why!" he said, upset.

"Because you're a weirdo."

"Hey you, over here," bandage boy said to Sasuke. "What's your name?"

"It's common courtesy to give your own name before asking someone else's," Sasuke said.

"Ah, déjà vu," Kagome said, remising. "Doesn't it seem like just yesterday I was saying that to you, Neji?"

"Oh, hello Kagome," the newly dubbed Neji said.

Sakura, Naruto, and Sasuke started to walk away. "Later Neji, Lee, TenTen!" Kagome called over her shoulder as she ran to catch up. "And _why_ didn't you guys wait for me?"

"Because you're really fast," Naruto said.

When they reached a large room, they heard, "Hey, guy with the dark eyes."

They looked up and saw Lee. "What is it?" Sasuke said.

"Will you fight me right here?"

"A fight right now?"

"My name is Rock Lee. When you want to learn a person's name you introduce yourself first, right? Sasuke Uchiha…"

"Heh, so you know?"

"I want to fight you. I want to test my techniques against the offspring of the genius ninja clan."

(blah blah, fight scene, blah blah)(as you can tell, I hate typing things that don't change)

"That's enough, Lee!" a large tortoise said.

"Oh crud, Gai's coming," Kagome whispered. She then picked up Honey and yelled, "GUYS, I'M GOING AHEAD!" over her shoulder as she ran down the hall.

When she reached the door, she saw Neji and TenTen waiting there, presumably for Lee.

"Hey Kagome, what are you doing here without your team?" TenTen asked.

"Lee wanted to fight Sasuke, a tortoise started scolding him, then Gai-sensei arrived. I _really_ don't want to talk to him right now." TenTen nodded in understanding, having to deal with Gai on an almost daily basis.

"Oh, yeah. Kagome, you said that the itchy feeling would go away, but I still feel it sometimes."

"No, you misunderstood. I said that the itchy feeling you get in my presence would be gone. I never said that it would be gone in the presence of the other people that activate it."

Just then, Lee and Gai came down the hallway. Kagome, with the small hope that Gai wouldn't notice her, hid behind Neji, causing TenTen to face palm.

"Ah, Kagome! I haven't seen your youth in over a year!" Gai said, noticing the scared girl. (as you can see, I'm no good at writing Gai or Lee)

"Uh… Hi, Gai-sensei…" Kagome said, coming out from behind Neji, seeing as Gai noticed her. _I should've hid on the ceiling like Kakashi-sensei is_… "I need to go find my team, if you'll excuse me…" Kagome then proceeded to run as fast as she could down the hallway.

When she got to her teammates, Naruto asked, "What happened to you?"

"I was trying to avoid Gai-sensei… It didn't work…" They all nodded in understanding.

"Oh… so Sakura came too… Now we can properly take the exam," Kakashi said when they reached the door.

"What do you mean?" Sakura asked.

"The truth is that the exams can only be taken in teams of the, or four in cases like these."

"Huh? But you said the test was an individual choice. You lied to us?"

"If I told you the truth, Naruto or Sasuke would have persuaded you to take the exam, or you would've trained 'til you dropped under Kagome's watch, leaving you too tired to come. Even if you didn't want to, if Sasuke asked you… you would, even though it wasn't in your heart. For the sake of Sasuke… and… well… Naruto too…"

"So if only Sasuke, Naruto, and Kagome had shown up?"

"They have it noted that this team had to be a team of four, so the exam would've ended here, they would not get to go any farther. But you came of your own free will, you guys are my proud team. Now go!"

"Yeah! Let's go!" Naruto said as the five of them walked in.

When they walked in, they saw a whole room full of nin staring at them, a majority of them Leaf-nin.

"Sasuke! You're late!" Ino yelled, latching onto him from behind. "I haven't seen you in a while so I've been waiting in excitement." (I have to skip some of this. If I re-type it, I may die laughing)

"You guys are taking this stupid test too? Don't die…" Shikamaru said, walking up to them with Choji who, as usual, was eating some chips.

"Oh! The idiot trio!" Naruto said.

"Don't call us that!" Shikamaru said.

"Yahoo! Found you!" Kiba said from a little way away.

"_Hi Kiba! Hi Akamaru_!" Honey called from her place in Kagome's arms.

Kagome giggled. "Hey guys!" she said, waving some as Shino, Kiba, and Hinata arrived.

Six out of the nine remaining rookies froze at the sound. "Did she just giggle?" Ino asked, dumbfounded.

"Huh? Oh, right… she was practically emotionless at the academy…" Sakura said.

"Since I've started listening to my music, I can't help but show my emotions like I used to," Kagome said.

"B-but your music i-is so depressing… I-I didn't know th-that someone could get h-happy off of i-it…" Hinata stuttered.

"Huh? What are you- Oh, right. You only heard that one song. I have plenty of more happy and upbeat songs."

"Yeah, she has this one that's really fun to dance to! What was it called?" Naruto said.

"The Cha Cha Slide?"

"Yeah, that one! Can you play it now?" Naruto asked, forgetting that they were about to take the chuunin exams.

"Naruto, I don't think this is the best time to play it. Maybe we can all get together after the exams to do it, but not now." _We won't have much free time after the exams, but he doesn't need to know that… I'm sure we can find some_.

"Hey you guys, you should be more quiet," a silver-haired Leaf-nin said, walking up. "You guys are the rookies just out of the academy right? Screaming like school girls… geez…" Kagome narrowed her eyes at him for two reasons. One, the school girl comment. Before she got pulled down the well, she never screamed at the top of her lungs for no apparent reason like her friends did. The other, she recognized him as Kabuto, the spy for Orochimaru. "This isn't a picnic."

"Who do you think you are?" Ino said.

"I'm Kabuto. But instead of that, look behind you."

Kagome was totally ignoring him, just glaring, until she saw him pull out his chakra infused flashcards.

"Hehe… then I'll share some info with you cute rookies with these nin-info cards…" Kabuto said.

"Nin-info cards?" Sakura repeated, confused.

"They are basically cards which have info burned onto them with chakra. I have four years worth of info here. Over 200 cards…" (skip explaination)

"Do you have cards with info on individuals?" Sasuke asked.

"Hehe… there are some guys you're worried about?" Kabuto said, ignoring Kagome's continuous glare. "Of course… The info on all the exam participants isn't perfect but I do have it. Even of you guys. Say something about these guys and I'll take a look."

"Gaara from the Sand, Rock Lee from the Leaf, and Kagome Higurashi from the Leaf," Sasuke said, surprising Kabuto.

"The… anime character?" Kabuto asked in complete disbelief.

"No, her," he said, pointing at Kagome.

"Well, I don't think I have anything on her, but I do have stuff on Gaara and Rock Lee," he said, pulling out two cards.

"Show me." (blah blah blah… we all either know this part, or know of this part. I'm not explaining this stuff)

When Naruto was yelling about how he was going to beat everyone in the room, Kagome stopped her glaring long enough to take some duct tape out of her crimson stack and tape Naruto's mouth shut. "There… now you can't make a fool out of yourself… with words…" Kagome said, earning barely held in snickers and chuckles from the rest of the rookies and Kabuto. (meh, you should know what this means by now)

As the proctor, Ibiki, explained the rules of the exam, Kagome was concentrating her miko ki into a small, loose ball between her hands, which were underneath her desk. She knew she'd need her miko ki for this. She was currently sitting next to Kiba and Akamaru with Honey sitting in her lap.

When Ibiki said to start, Honey flipped it over, knowing that Kagome couldn't mover her hands unless she wished to disperse her miko ki. She quickly concentrated her mind on Sakura's paper. She 'wrote' a message to her in her ki. It read: '_Sakura, don't freak out, it's Kagome. I need to know it you need help with this exam. Tilt your head to the left if yes, to the right if no._'

When Kagome looked back and saw Sakura tilt her head to the right, she moved on to Sasuke. His message was basically the same, minus the don't freak out part. When she got the same answer, Kagome moved on to Naruto. His message was different. His read: '_Naruto, it's Kagome. Do you want my help with this exam? Tilt your head to the left if yes, to the right if no_.'

When Kagome saw the same answer, she wasn't surprised. When she concentrated her ki onto Sakura's paper, who was flying through the thing, her ki wrote the appropriate kanji in the appropriate place. Kagome, acting fast, wrote every stroke of the kanji before it disappeared from her paper, her having released the ball of ki.

Kagome, having finished with a long time to spare, decided to look around and see what everyone else was using to cheat. She, of course, already knew, but she wanted to see it in person.

She heard Akamaru barking as soon as the test started, and she saw Shino release a bug. She saw TenTen pulling a string that Kagome knew would adjust a mirror, and she saw Lee fiddle with his forehead protector for a moment, which was, for once, on his forehead. She saw Neji activate his Byakugan, and she noticed Sasuke activate his Sharingan.

As time kept ticking by, she saw Naruto continue to look more and more stressed, and she saw more and more people get sent out for cheating so badly. She concentrated her miko ki again and wrote to Naruto: '_Are you sure? Left to yes, right to no._' With the same answer, she went back to looking at the techniques other people were using to cheat.

She saw Gaara close one eye and create one in his hand out of sand, and then disperse it so he could cheat without getting caught by the person he was cheating from. She also saw and heard when Kankuro was going to the bathroom, followed by his puppet, who was disguised as a chuunin. The only reason she noticed was because it wasn't one of the chuunin there to begin with.

"Okay, and now…" she heard Ibiki say. "We will begin the tenth question! Now… before we get to it… I'd like to go over the added rules for this question." At this, Kagome zoned out again, but was totally aware of her surroundings. This was why she wasn't surprised when Anko came crashing into the room, hanging a banner with kunai.

"_Does that lady belong with the men in the white coats_?" Honey asked after hearing everything she said.

"_Yep_," Kagome said, making Kiba look at her strangely and Akamaru chuckle as much as a dog could.

Kagome, completely ignoring everything around her, was looking at Practice Area 44, aka the Forest of Death.

Kagome tuned back in to what Anko was saying just in time to hear her say, "One word of advice… Don't die…"

Then, the forms started to be passed around. When she got one, Kagome immediately signed it, not reading it at all. She then waited around for the rest of her team to be done so they could be assigned a scroll and a gate.

"Everyone," she heard Anko yell. "Follow an instructor and go to your gates! We will start in thirty minutes!"

So, they followed one of the instructors to gate 12. When the test began, and after a minimal amount of yelling from Naruto, they raced into the forest. When they came to a good sized clearing, they took a break. Then, they heard a scream.

"That was… a human scream, right?" Sakura asked.

"It looks like the test truly did begin," Kagome muttered, unnoticed.

"I'm… getting a little nervous," Sakura admitted.

"This… this is nothing, Sakura," Naruto said, trying to encourage her. "Excuse me a second, I really gotta… ya know," Naruto said, going to the edge of the clearing and starting to unzip his pants.

"Yeah right!" Sakura yelled, punching his head. "Get outta here! What is this, a kennel? Not in front of me you don't! Find a bush or something!" Naruto then scampered off to who knows where to _go_.

Honey, offended by the kennel comment, yipped, "_What do ya mean a kennel! I'll have you know that the kennel I come from had a separate room to go like you humans do_!"

Kagome, amused, translated. Sakura, having forgotten Honey was there, was quick to apologize, since Honey had never really done anything to her.

When 'Naruto' was done and came back into the clearing, Kagome immediately felt the difference and drew her sword. Everyone saw her draw her sword, but 'Naruto' thought nothing of it.

"Huh, is there an enemy close by, Kagome?" Sakura asked.

"Closer than I'd like. Now, tell us where Naruto is!"

"Wha… what? Sakura, Sasuke, I think Kagome's gone crazy!" 'Naruto' yelled.

Sasuke, who had been suspicious the moment 'Naruto' stepped into the clearing, punched Naruto into a tree. "You're worse than Naruto at transforming," Sasuke said.

'Naruto' _poof_ed and in his place was a Rain-genin. "You figured it out," he said. "Oh well! Which one of you has the scroll?" No one said anything. "I'll just take it by force then!" he yelled, charging at them.

Kagome, knowing that Sasuke would take care of it, sheathed her sword. She jumped after them when they started to give chase.

After the nin left, they made a password, which was more of a phrase than a word, thinking that no one was listening.

"I'll hold the scroll," Sasuke said, getting up. Kagome, who had held onto the scroll until now, tossed the scroll to Sasuke. After Sasuke had put it away, a blast of wind came, separating everyone, including Honey. Kagome was thrown the farthest away, surprisingly, being in her smaller-than-average 12 year old form.

When Kagome finally landed, having been thrown quite a ways, she looked up and saw what looked like a magnolia tree. Kagome got up and decided to climb the tree and see where she was in the forest, seeing as the tree was pretty tall. She sensed people around her, but just thought them enemy-nin, not even giving a second thought as to who the aura's may belong to.

"Can you stop climbing me?" she heard a voice say.

It surprised her so much she fell out of the tree. Before she could hit the ground, she flipped midair and bent her knees, landing safely on her feet. "Who's there!" Kagome called, unsheathing her sword.

"Ah, Kagome, I've never met you in person, but I know a lot about you…" the voice said.

"Alright, whoever this is, it's so not funny!"

"You misunderstand, child, look at the trunk of the magnolia tree." Kagome glanced over, and was very surprised when she saw what looked like a face carved into it. She knew that face wasn't there before she climbed, and, considering the aura she felt from it, she drew a conclusion.

"A demon tree?"

"Ah, that I am! It has been five hundred since I've felt your presence walk this planet. I must tell the others!" After he said that, a seemingly startled bird rose into the sky. On closer inspection, one could tell that this bird was really a bluebird demon, known for their peaceful nature and beauty. "Now, go hide in the trees!" the tree ordered.

So, very curious, she leapt backwards to land in the cover of the trees. Then a very familiar dragon and toad came out of the foliage, followed closely by a very familiar three-eyed ox.

"Why did you summon us, Bokusenou?" said a voice out of seemingly nowhere.

Before the tree could reply, Kagome came out of hiding. "Myoga? Jaken? Ah-Un? Mo-Mo (which is apparently the name of Totosai's ox)?"

Myoga, recognizing her immediately, yelled, "Lady Kagome, what are you doing here? And why are you so much younger than the last time I've seen you?"

"All things will be explained in due time," Bokusenou said.

"Lady Kagome?" Jaken asked, barely believing his senses. He was so used to her being at least four times his height, seeing her at about three times his height screwed up his picture of her.

"Um, how are you guys here? Almost all the demons died out?"

"Easy, we went into hiding," Jaken said. (remember, it's been about 500 years for them, their personalities are bound to have changed)

"Where's the rest of the gang?" Kagome discreetly asked.

"Hachi, Shippo, and Kirara were with us, until about one hundred years ago. None of us have seen them, since that day. They all set out, bored of the forest, to search for somewhere that was both new and out of trouble. Some of us think that they were three of the tailed-beasts that we sometimes hear shinobi talk about, others think that they found someplace to live, and may even have mates, but none of us can know for sure," Myoga explained. "Lord Sesshomaru, along with Kagura, Kanna, and Hakudoshi can easily blend into the crowd, and therefore didn't need to go into hiding. Master Inuyasha hasn't been seen since he and his human mate had a quarter demon child together. We all think he went into hiding as soon as his mate died and his children could care for themselves. We all miss them, but if us demons that live in the forest were to come out, we'd all be killed on the spot."

"Thank you guys. I need to get back to my team, but I'll make sure to come and visit you guys!" Kagome said, taking off. _I missed them so much, I hope that Inuyasha, Shippo, Hachi, Kirara, Fluffy, Kagura, Kanna, and Hakudoshi are okay. I refuse to believe that Shippo, Hachi, and possibly Kirara are the tailed-beasts_.

It took her a couple minutes to get to where the group was separated, but when she did, she carefully followed Sasuke's scent, knowing that it was the one that moved the least and would be easiest to follow. When she came to the clearing she knew they met Orochimaru in, she carefully took in his scent, memorizing it for next time, then followed their scents up the trees. She saw the 'battlefield' and saw Honey lying there, obviously having been knocked out by the blast and unnoticed by the people in the battle.

Kagome picked up Honey and headed in the direction of Sakura's scent, knowing that's where she would find the others, having smelt Naruto join the party on the battlefield.

Following the scent trail took hours. Sakura, while only going a short distance, left a very long and very confusing trail to follow. It was both very smart and very stupid. It was smart because an enemy that could scent you, or a nin-dog, would have a very hard time picking up the trail. It was stupid because, while Kagome wasn't an enemy, she was still having a very hard time finding the correct trail. About thirty minutes into following the confusing chill, she felt a chill go up her spine, the one she only gets when a demon uses their youki.

When she finally found the camp, she saw Sakura hug Sasuke from behind, trying to get him to calm down. _It's like Inuyasha's demonic transformations all over again_! Kagome realized. Noticing that he wasn't calming down, she sent a stream of her purification powers to him from her hand. Anyone looking would be able to see her hand glowing pink, but only those with miko ki, and maybe the Byakugan, were able to see the stream leave her hand and go to Sasuke. She knew that Neji noticed it.

When the stream entered Sasuke and he started to calm down, the 'scene' went back to the way it was in the anime and manga. When the Sound-nin left and Ino, Shikamaru, and Choji entered the clearing, Kagome came from her spot in the bushes.

While not having battled at all, unlike the others, she was still likely to pass out if she didn't regain any energy soon. So, while all the others asked where she was and why she was out of breath, Kagome rummaged through her crimson sack and pulled out a bottle of water and a granola bar. She was still panting after her small meal. "I *pant* had to follow Sakura's confusing trail to *pant* find them. It took me *pant* hours, and I just got here…"

While Neji really wanted to ask about what she did to Sasuke, he didn't feel that this was the right time for that.

"Now, if you'll *pant* excuse me… I'm going to *pant* pass out now." Then, Kagome fell forward, some of her demon bone shuriken tumbling out of her open sack.

"What does she keep in there?" Shikamaru asked.

"I actually have no idea," Sakura said. "It seems like she always has everything we'd need, but I never really thought to ask."

Ino, shaking her head, went to put the shuriken back in, but stopped when she noticed a small bundle in it. It was steadily expanding and contracting, like breathing. Ino, being very curious, opened the bundle, only to come face to face with a passed out Honey, surprising Ino so much that she threw Honey up in the air and screamed.

Shikamaru caught Honey, and instantly wondered why Ino freaked out, but didn't ask. He quickly checked Honey over for any injuries and found that, besides a bump on her head, which probably caused her to pass out, she was injury free. Shikamaru, deciding that the bump would be okay, rewrapped Honey, but this time not covering her face.

Naruto, who had been woken up by Choji in this time, poked Kagome in the face, wondering why she was sleeping there, and in such a weird position at that.


	5. Chapter 5

**I just found out that I'm going on a cruise in December, so, as celebration, I posted this chapter. Hope you enjoy**

**I don't own Going Under by Evanescence**

"_Inu talk_"

"_**Singing**_"

-^-v-^-v-^-v-^-v-^-v

Chapter 5

On the afternoon of the fourth day of the test, while Sasuke went to get water, Naruto and Sakura were going to open the earth scroll to make a fake heaven scroll. Now, you may be asking 'why isn't Kagome stopping them?' Well, the answer is simple. She was still unconscious, having used more of her miko ki to calm down Sasuke than she could've supplied without her body going into an automatic sleep mode, aka passing out. (hehehe… computer words) Honey, who had woken up on the third day, was simply sleeping the day away, since she couldn't really do much, considering no one seemed to know that she was still in the bag, plus the added fact that Shikamaru pulled the blanket around her too tight, making her unable to move.

Even when Kabuto came, even though her hands twitched like she was going to kill someone, she didn't wake up. Even as Sasuke picked her up and slung her over his shoulder, she didn't even twitch. After they had walked for what seemed like hours, with night falling and the tower not getting any closer to them, they heard an unconscious Kagome mutter, "T-tra…p… don't fall… for the trap…"

"Is she dreaming of someone falling for a trap… or is she aware of her surroundings?" Kabuto asked.

"Who knows. I've never seen her passed out before," Naruto said, barely registering he said anything.

Kagome, even with all the commotion, didn't even wake up when the Rain-nin from earlier, along with his teammates, fought them. Even as night turned to dawn, she still didn't twitch. Her heartbeat, if anything, was slowing down. When Naruto, Sakura, Sasuke, and Kabuto checked on her and they noticed this fact, they started to panic.

What they didn't know was that this was normal for a miko that used more miko ki than she could supply at the time. Normally, they'd die if they used too much, since they would be using their life energy. In cases when they don't use all their life energy, they stay unconscious until they have both their life energy and miko ki restored, then, their heart rate drops to almost nothing and their bodies start to pulse. As soon as the pulsing stops, her heart speeds up again and she starts to wake up.

Well, that's just what they did when they checked on her again, having felt the pulsing. They felt her heart speed up from next to nothing to normal in an almost dangerous amount of time. Then, she got into a sitting position, rubbing her right eye.

She yawned. "How long have I been out?" she asked.

"It's the start of the fifth day, you tell me," Kabuto said.

"We got both scrolls!" Naruto proudly announced.

"Awesome," Kagome said, totally ignoring the fact that Kabuto was there, knowing that, without him, they would most likely not have the scroll, and may very well be out of the exam for opening the scroll.

Kagome quickly took out two more granola bars, another bottle of water, and a wrapped up Honey from her crimson sack, knowing that no one had taken her out or given her food since the first day. After their quick meal, Kagome picked Honey up and they were off. On the entire way to the tower, Kagome ignored the fact that Kabuto even existed. She also ignored his teammates when they got to the tower.

"Nobody's here…" Naruto said once they got into the room they were assigned before the test started.

"There's a sign up there. We should probably read it," Kagome suggested, wanting to move things along to the preliminaries.

Sakura read it. "If qualities of heaven are your desire, acquire wisdom to take your mind higher. If earthy qualities are what you lack, train your body and prepare to attack. When heaven and earth are opened together, the perilous path will become righteous forever. This 'something' is the secret way that guides us from this place today." After some commentary from Naruto, Sakura said, "This is probably talking about the scrolls. I think they're telling us to open up the scrolls."

So, Naruto handed Sakura the heaven scroll, leaving him with the earth scroll. They opened them at the same time. Kagome, not wanting to be involved, set Honey on the ground, leaving Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura to fuss over the suddenly smoking summoning scrolls. "Hey Iruka-sensei," Kagome said, completely uninterested.

All Kagome heard after he returned the greeting was the fact that they passed.

.

They were all in a large room with balconies on either side with stairs leading up to them at the doorway. There was also a large set of giant stone hands making a hand sign on the side of the room opposite the doorway. Kagome completely tuned out all the instructions, having memorized every word in both the anime and the manga by heart, having been dubbed a 'super nerd' by her friends for her super obsession with _Naruto_ at one point in time, and ignored the stares she got, being the only fourth member on any of the teams.

"_Hey, Akamaru_," she heard Honey yip softly, gaining the attention of a scared Akamaru. "_if you're worried about that Gaara kid, then don't be. Kagome's definitely fought worse, and came out with little more than a broken limb at most. If you end up fighting him with Kiba, I wish you luck, but should you have to fight him outside the arena, I'll back you up, cuz I helped Kagome fight those guys_!" This seemed to encourage Akamaru, knowing his friend would help, should he and Kiba get into a fight with the kid with the gourd.

When the directions were done with and Kabuto quit, Kagome started listening in, totally ignoring what was going on between Sasuke, Naruto, and Sakura in front of her.

"Since we now have exactly twenty entrants…" Hayate, the proctor of the third exam and the preliminaries paused, apparently recounting the genin. "Lord Hokage," he said. "There are twenty one contestant, now what?"

"Go as planned, I have something in mind for the extra genin," Sarutobi said.

Going back to addressing the genin, Hayate continued. "We will conduct eleven matches and… umm… the winners will advance to the third test." (blah blah, explain the rules, blah blah)

Kagome, already knowing who was going first, and what the outcome would be, totally ignored the board that would randomly assign the fights. Kagome followed after Sakura and Naruto as they went up the stairs to the balcony. Kagome, bored with this match before it began, listened to one of Honey's favorite past times while sitting on the edge of the balcony, her legs dangling. Babbling about random things!

By the time Sasuke's match was over, Honey had went from chocolate to wrenches. The next match was Zaku v. Shino. She knew Shino would win, hands down, but, like with Sasuke's match, she didn't really care. While still listening to Honey babble, Kagome pulled out her crimson sack and pulled out some trail mix. Seeing that Choji looked really hungry, she got up, went over, handed him the bag, and left without a word. Choji, so surprised with the random act of kindness, didn't really know what to do, except say a simple thank you. By the time Kagome got back to her spot, Kakashi had returned and the third match had started, considering how short Shino's was. Kagome hadn't seen the name of the contestants, but she could tell one was that Kankuro guy.

She sat down just in time to hear the snapping of what everyone thought was Kankuro's neck, but Kagome could feel his aura in the mummy-like wrappings that he carried on his back. Almost as soon as he revealed himself, the match was over. Fourth match, Sakura v. Ino. "Luck… Sakura," Kagome muttered as Sakura noticed that she would be fighting Ino.

.

After about ten minutes into fight four, Kagome was ready to go down there and beat them both down herself. The others might not be as bored as her, considering she already knew the outcome and the path to it, but they were all still bored with this fight.

"_Kagome, did you remember to pack my special treats_?" Honey asked.

Kagome then rummaged through her bag and pulled out the treat, making Kakashi wonder exactly what she had in there, considering she has to take a few minutes to rummage through the small bag, which should only take thirty seconds at most.

Finally, while Honey was savoring her treat, Ino seemed to finally snap. She suddenly cut off her hair and threw it on the ground between her and Sakura. Ino looked about to use the mind transfer jutsu, and Sakura started to run out of the way. Ino said the jutsu and slumped over, and Sakura showed that Ino wasn't in her body.

Suddenly, Sakura couldn't move, chakra strings keeping her in place. The strings were conducted through Ino's hair, showing that she hadn't snapped, but had a plan in mind. Kagome could feel Ino's spirit enter Sakura, but she could feel inner Sakura rising when Naruto yelled about not losing to Ino. She also felt when Ino's spirit went back into her own body, meaning inner Sakura did her job at this point in time.

After one more punch each, they were both down for the count. When Kakashi and Asuma brought Sakura and Ino up to the balcony and laid them down, Kagome's eyes turned a pure hot pink color, but no like the time at the bridge at the Wave. With these eyes, Kagome could see nothing but auras, meaning she could tell if they would need to be healed, or if it was basically exhaustion.

One look at their auras told Kagome one thing. They, while needing slight medical attention for the concussions they got from punching each other on the top of the heads, simply needed rest. Kagome, after wishing her friend luck in the match, got up while the fifth match was starting, Temari v. TenTen.

Kagome sent her miko ki into both her hands and put one over each of the girls' heads, where the impact was. The concussion was gone in less than a minute, but everyone was once again wondering what the pink chakra was.

When Temari sent TenTen up into the air with the full intent of her hitting her extremely large fan, Kagome looked over. She instantly notice, when TenTen was coming down, that she was going to hit in a way that would break her back. Kagome, in one fluid motion, used her demon-like speed to draw the fan Kagura gave her, which she always kept on her sash, along with Kanna's mirror, open it, and send a small gust of wind to send TenTen off course so as not to break her back. She quickly put her fan back before anyone noticed her interfere.

Kagome reactivated her 'aura eyes' and noticed, while TenTen was a bit worse for ware, would be fine with a little rest. Deactivating her aura eyes, she saw that the names for the sixth match were being called. It was Shikamaru v. Kin. Kagome knew exactly what she did, so, as he passed by, she whispered, "Be careful…"

When she saw Shikamaru force Kin to bump her head on the wall behind her, she smirked, liking how the idiot of a nin fell unconscious from a little bump. Match seven was soon called. This one Honey had a hard time picking who to cheer for, so she ended up cheering for both. The seventh match was Naruto v. Kiba.

Kagome started to laugh her ass of, something everyone else didn't even look her way for, when she saw what looked like Akamaru, but was actually Naruto, bite Kiba's arm. When Naruto transformed into Kiba, and Kiba hit him, and he transformed into Akamaru, Honey started to laugh her tail off. She stopped when she noticed Kiba hit the real Akamaru, thinking it was Naruto.

Kagome, who finally stopped laughing, started to laugh all over again when she saw Kiba about to attack Naruto from behind, but Naruto farted in his face. Kagome finally stopped laughing again when Naruto was announced the winner, but some giggles remained. Both she and Honey smiled lightly when they saw Hinata nervously give Naruto the medicinal cream, but Kagome's head snapped over to Neji when she felt the anger in his aura rise. _He holds much too much hate. Naruto needs to fight him soon_… she thought.

Kagome, before the next match was called, walked over to where Hinata was, by the entryway where Kiba and Akamaru were being taken to the hospital. "Hinata," Kagome said, getting her attention. "Here, it's a good luck charm," she continued, handing her a metal yin symbol (that's the white side, right?).

"O-oh, th-thank you, Kagome. B-but, where's the y-yang symbol? D-don't they usually come in a p-pair?" Hinata asked.

"Yes, it's in my bag, but I'm waiting for the right person to give it to." She paused a moment. "Just… good luck in your fight," she continued sadly, pointing to the board with her and Neji's name's on it.

When Neji was talking down Hinata, Kagome was so tempted to tell him off, but Naruto beat her to it. She decided that she'd tell Neji something later, hopefully change at least something about his personality before the month of training for the third exam is up.

"H-Hinata…" Kagome whispered, feeling a disruption in her aura. Two seconds later, she coughed up blood.

She watched the match, just wanting it to be over so she could give Hinata a checkup. Hinata had been her first friend here, had tried to become her friend since the beginning, so Kagome felt the need to repay her. When Neji went to attack Hinata after Hayate called the match, she helped the Leaf jounin in the room restrain him from hitting her.

When Hinata suddenly collapsed, Kagome quickly asked, "Can I see what's wrong with her?" At Kurenai's nod, she placed a hand over Hinata's forehead hand pushed a minimal amount of her ki into her, feeling all of her injuries like they were her own. Kagome grabbed her own heart with her unoccupied hand. "H-her heart…" Kagome barely said, everyone fussing over her sudden pain stopped. "Her heart… needs to be taken care of, now…" She then retracted her ki from Hinata and brought her hands back to her sides. Within thirty seconds, the pain in her chest was gone.

"Neji… you would've regretted it later if you'd killed Hinata… I don't care what you say, but I'm going to talk to you later about what Fate and Destiny are really like," Kagome said, turning to face him with emotionless eyes. As soon as Kagome got back to her spot, Naruto jumped down.

Kagome could easily feel the rise in youki as Gaara's demon was crying for blood. Match number nine was Gaara v. Lee.

"Careful Lee, he's more powerful than you think," Kagome said, not turning from where Gaara was glaring at her.

The entire battle, Kagome could feel the aura of the demon inside Gaara growing stronger and stronger. She was worried about Lee. Sure, she knew the outcome, but now she can prevent it. Sure, she knows that the surgery Tsunade suggests will pull through, but now she could make it so he doesn't need it. But, her body refuses to move.

When she felt the demon awaken almost 100 percent of the way, she saw Gaara send out a wave of youki induced sand at Lee. She had to force her purification powers down so they wouldn't protect Lee. He suddenly dodged the oncoming barrage of sand, pushing his body past its limit. "Lee…" Kagome whispered, seeing Lee open five out of eight of the gates.

Gaara landed on the ground, his gourd turned to sand to protect him. He was on his back, head turned to face Lee and right hand outstretched. He then used the desert coffin on Lee, but it only reached his left arm and leg. It was before the sand could harm him anymore that Gai interfered.

Match ten, Dosu v. Choji, was up next. The fight went quick. Choji did his expansion jutsu, Dosu dodged, when Choji was stuck, Dosu attacked with sound waves.

When they cleared out, the Hokage stepped up. "Everyone!" he announced. "We have one more match to complete! But, there are special circumstances for this round! Anyone has the chance to fight her, including jounin! If you have already won a round, this will not put you out of the third exam! Anyone who wishes to fight Kagome Higurashi, please step down onto the floor!" Down stepped Neji, Temari, Kankuro, Gai, Kakashi, and Kurenai, along with Kagome, considering this is her match. "Now," the Hokage continued, not as loud as before. "We will draw numbers out of this box. Since there are only six here, the one with the highest number will fight Kagome, but we'll need them for after the match, so make sure to return them afterward." Anko then made them draw their numbers and say them.

"5," Neji said.

"1," Gai.

"9," Kakashi.

"7," Kankuro.

"3," Kurenai.

These five turned to Temari to see if it would be her or Kakashi that would fight Kagome. "10," she said, smirking. They all then put the numbers back into the box and everyone but Temari and Kagome went back to the balconies.

"Hm, I don't think I'll need my sword…" Kagome said, making Temari angry. "I think I'll use the fan." She then drew the fan Kagura gave to her.

"A fan? You did see my match, right? I'm a wind-user, idiot," Temari taunted.

"Trust me, you won't be able to control this wind."

"Begin!"

While Temari jumped back, just incase, Kagome immediately opened her fan, her face gaining a shadow effect that made her look scary. "Dance of Blades!" Kagome said, slashing the fan, creating blades made entirely of wind.

Temari smirked and tried to use her fan to send the blades away, or disperse them, but it didn't work. "Wha-" And then she got hit.

"Oh, I wouldn't recommend getting hit by the Dance of Blades, they cut thin, but they cut deep. If you're not careful, you could lose a limb. I also wouldn't suggest wasting your time by trying to get rid of the wind. The only person other than myself that can control it is the person that gave me this fan. She's a true wind-user. You could even call her a wind sorcerous if you like…" Kagome explained, earning a growl from Temari.

"Wind Scythe Jutsu!" Temari yelled, moving her overly large fan so it would create the jutsu.

"Dance of the Dragon!" Kagome countered easily. When the dance of the dragon went through the wind scythe jutsu, Temari barely escaped getting pulled into it.

"Dance of Blades!" Temari didn't escape this one unscathed. She got hurt bad enough for her to pass out, but not bad enough that she could die from it. "Well, that went well!" Kagome said when she was declared the winner and put back her fan.

She then went over to Temari, bent down, and healed to worst of her injuries, seeing as she would need to be conscious for the next part of this. As soon as Temari was awake, all the winners filed down to the second floor.

After some explaining, like about the fact that they would have a month to prepare, Anko passed out the box with the numbers again. Kagome didn't get one, considering she had a predetermined number. Down the line, they all said their number, minus Kagome.

"It's 8," Dosu said.

"I got 1," Naruto said.

"7," Temari.

"5," Kankuro.

"3," Gaara.

"9," Shikamaru.

"2," Neji.

"6," Shino.

"That would mean Sasuke has four," Ibiki said.

"What about Kagome?" Naruto asked.

"She has a predetermined number. Her number was picked before her match, and, should she have lost, that number would have been terminated," Ibiki explained.

Before anyone else could say anything, the Hokage had interrupted them, saying that the battle order for the first exam was up. It looked the same as in the anime or manga, but there was one small difference. Kagome's name was next to Shikamaru's, but she wasn't going to fight him. While Shikamaru was fighting an extra fight, Kagome was only fighting one fight. A line went up from her name, going almost until the top of the page, before turning and stopping when it touched the line that did go up to the top of the page.

.

As soon as they left the tower, Kagome decided that for the entire month, she would only train her miko powers, with the occasional chakra training when she got bored. She mentally made a schedule for her training, making sure to add free time so she wouldn't overwork herself. She also needed the free time so she could tell Neji the truth about Fate and Destiny, and so she could hopefully get together with the other rookie 10 and have a mini party that included her iPod, like she promised Naruto she would.

When she got to her house, it was already dark, so Kagome made a quick dinner of salmon for her and Honey. After dinner, Kagome emptied her crimson sack. She then put in all her 'just incase' weapons, followed by some granola bars, trail mix, and water, things for injuries, like bandages and ointments, and, lastly, her iPod and iHome. Then, Kagome and Honey went to bed.

.

Then next day, Kagome knew that Naruto was going to meet Jiraiya, so she just started with her training. When she got to a private training field that she found no one uses, she said, "Training day number one, senses. Honey, you are going to attack me from random angles, and I'm going to use a different sense every time. If I should not figure it out, move off course, so neither of us gets too hurt. If I do figure it out, I'll jump out of the way." She then set her sword, mirror, fan, and crimson sack on the ground by a tree.

.

They trained like this until they were both out of energy, having been doing the same thing for hours without stopping, they took a lunch break.

"_Ah, my mussels. Why do I have to help you train again, it you know that you're not going to fight_?" Honey asked.

"I need the training, because I plan to help them stop it. Besides, a little training only hurts your opponent," Kagome said, creating a variation of the saying 'a little _ never hurt anyone.'

Then, Kagome felt someone enter the vicinity, followed by a scent of someone she knew. She couldn't seem to place it, probably because she had overworked almost all her senses, minus her miko ones, enough that they went back to the way they were before her, Sesshomaru, and Inuyasha had become siblings.

"Hey…" Kagome said, digging in her bag for a bottle of water and her bento of rice balls.

Neji stepped out of the trees.

"Oh, hey Neji. I wasn't going to talk to you until tomorrow," Kagome said absentmindedly, still trying to find her rice balls. "Grr… Where are they!"

"You said you wanted to talk to me about 'what Fate and Destiny are really like'. I merely came to find out what you meant," Neji said. (sorry if this sounds more like Sasuke than Neji, I'm not good at doing Neji before his personality change)

"Ha!" Kagome said, pulling out her bento. "Let me eat first, this is a long story..." At Neji's nod, she started to eat her rice balls, giving one to Honey and offering one to Neji, who declined. When she was finished, she continued, "Now, what I'm about to say can't be said to anyone else without permission from me."

She then put her hands in a position like she was going to pray, and created a barrier around the clearing that, while letting normal woodland creatures go through freely, would keep everyone else out and was soundproof, so no one else could hear.

Kagome began. "You know the anime _Inuyasha_, I know this for a fact. What you don't know is that everything that happened was real, very real. And I am the 'Kagome Higurashi' from it." Neji looked surprised and disbelieving, but he stayed silent, so Kagome went on. "Pretty much everything that happened in the anime was correct, up to a certain point. At that point was when I found out the truth about Destiny and Fate. In school we learned about a play called _Romeo & Juliet_, and there's a line in there that I think is almost true about my life. The quote, 'I am fortune's fool,' meaning 'I am Fate's plaything.'

"It's not true because I am the plaything of Lady Destiny, not the Fates. On the day the anime changes from fact to fiction, I met Lady Destiny and the Fates. You know that saying, 'Fate's a bitch,' well, that is completely untrue. None of the ten Fates (hint hint), while unique in personalities, were a bitch. The saying came from Lady Destiny's façade. She is forced to keep up a cold façade around the Fates. While Lady Destiny has everyone wrapped around her finger, forcing them to always follow through with their ultimate destiny, she allows the Fates to create paths for us.

"The Fates create multiple paths for every decision we may make in our lives, but Lady Destiny sets up… _checkpoints_, I guess you could call them. While she doesn't get involved on our path to every checkpoint, she does decide what we will all eventually do. The Fates do not have a set path for everyone. The ten Fates, as I've said before, create multiple paths for us to choose from.

"While some people, who got the shorter end of the stick because of where they may or may not have been born, think that fate cannot be changed, that your destiny is set in stone, and that every decision you make is determined for you, but those people have never really experienced anything that could tell them 'Hey, everything can be turned around if you want it to.' Some people need that kick, if they ever want to see the light.

"Look at me, I'm the perfect example. I'm always being tossed around, forced to go to the next checkpoint as soon as I reach it. I may hate how I was taken away from my family, and my family-like friends, but I don't complain about it. I know that they'd be sad if I was sad. I still have Honey, a symbol of my past time with my friends. And I still have the gifts I got from the ones I call family. While I may hate how I'm supposed to be going through every checkpoint, even if I don't like it, I will do it, just so no one gets sad…

"What I'm trying to say is, don't let your assumption that Fate and Destiny rule your life bring you down. Don't let it bring down others through you. Most of all…" Kagome, almost done with her speech, paused dramatically before yelling, "A FAILURE MAY NOT ALWAYS REMAIN A FALURE AND AN ELITE MAY NOT ALWAYS REMAIN AN ELITE! PEOPLE CHANGE YOU IDIOT! I'M ALSO A PERFECT EXAMPLE OF THAT! IF YOU CAN SEE THOUGH ALMOST EVERYTHING, LEARN TO SEE UNDER THE SURFACE WITH THAT DAMN BYAKUGAN OF YOURS."

"Was this all you wanted to tell me?" Neji asked, his emotion unreadable.

"No, I also wanted to give you this," Kagome said, tossing Neji the yang symbol that matched Hinata's yin symbol. "It's a good luck charm. I suggest accepting it. And remember, no one can hear this happened."

After Kagome dropped the barrier, Neji nodded and left, not accepting the necklace or the terms, but not disagreeing with them either.

As soon as he left the area, Kagome said, "Alright, enough rest Honey, back to training my senses!" Honey gave a groan at this.

.

About seven days later was one of Kagome's break days. She was going to have another break day tomorrow if she could get some of the rookies, and maybe TenTen, since Neji's still a jerk, to come to her clearing and have a little picnic/party. She just hoped that the rookies that were still in the exam would take a break for tomorrow.

She came across Ino first, who was on her way to meet with Choji and Shikamaru. "Hey, Ino!" Kagome called, surprising the girl. "If I get enough people, I was going to have a little party tomorrow. I wanted to know if Shikamaru was going to train tomorrow so I would know if you, Shikamaru, and Choji could all come."

"Um…" Ino thought. "I don't know if he'll be training tomorrow, but he probably won't be, he's in need of a break, surprisingly. So, I'll see if we all can come, if not, I'll probably still be there. When and where is it?"

"It'll be around noon in a clearing that I found. It's about five hundred meters west from training ground five."

"Oh, that clearing! Everyone always forgets about that clearing since it's not an actual training ground. Alright, I'll see if we can be there!"

"Thanks Ino. Later," Kagome said, before leaving to go find her next victim, um… I mean guest.

"_Hi Kagome, hi Honey_…" Kagome heard behind her, only to turn around and see Kiba and Akamaru.

"Hey guys," Kagome said, totally forgetting why she was even out today.

"Aren't you supposed to be training?" Kiba asked.

"Oh, right! It's my off day. I'm planning on having another one tomorrow, and I wanted to have a picnic. I'm planning on inviting as much of the rookie 10 as possible."

"Cool, want any help with that?"

"Sure. I already invited Ino, Choji, and Shikamaru. I still need to invite Hinata, Shino, Sakura, Naruto, and maybe TenTen, just cuz she's my friend. You can probably help with Shino and Hinata, and I'll get Sakura, Naruto, and TenTen. It's at a clearing about five hundred meters west from training ground five around noon."

"_Yay! Party_!" Akamaru cheered.

"_I know, right_," Honey said.

"Later Kiba!" Kagome said, on her way to the river, where she knows he's training with Jiraiya nonstop. On her way, she just so happened to run into TenTen. "Oh, hey TenTen!" Kagome called.

TenTen, who had been looking at an odd looking kunai, looked over. "Hey Kagome," she said. "What's up?"

"I'm having a little picnic tomorrow and I'd like you to come. I would ask you to invite Neji too for me, but with Naruto basically begging to fight him, plus the rage he holds toward the main house that he takes out on Hinata, I don't think the picnic would survive the mayhem."

"Oh, that's okay, I guess. I'll see if I'm able, but I'll probably feel out of place. Oh well, I heard while we were waiting for the first exam to start that you'd get the rookies together to play a song that was supposed to be really fun to dance to."

"Awesome, it's in a clearing about five hundred meters west of training ground five around noon. Now I only have to invite Sakura and Naruto, and get a confirmation from Choji and Shikamaru. I need to know what food and how much of it to bring. Later TenTen."

The rest of the way to the river was silent, but Kagome didn't mind. She soon approached and instantly noticed three things. The first was the person she assumed to be Jiraiya was peeking through the bushes. The second was Naruto training what appeared to be a summoning jutsu. The last thing was the auras of three females, along with the sounds of splashing and giggling, signifying that Jiraiya was peeping on those poor unsuspecting souls.

"Hey, Naruto!" Kagome called before Honey shot past her to growl at the weird-looking tadpole that Naruto had summoned.

"H- Kagome?" Naruto asked, surprised.

"I just wanted to invite you to a small picnic I'm throwing. If everyone comes, it'll be all the rookies, minus Sasuke, and TenTen. I told you I was gonna show them the song, so I decided to have a picnic. So far, I've invited everyone but you and Sakura. You wanna come?"

"Um, I don't know, I've gotta train…"

"Of course he's going!" Jiraiya interrupted, not wanting to be stuck with the kid because of his stubbornness.

"Well, alright. You will come to the clearing about five hundred meters west from training ground five around noon. Now, as I've said before, I've gotta go invite Sakura. You continue with your training, Naruto!" Kagome yelled, running off with Honey, who was still growling softly, in tow.

Kagome decided to go to Sakura's house to see if she was there. Her mom said that she was training. So, Kagome started with training ground seven, their normal training ground. She was there. "Hey Sakura!" Kagome yelled, gaining her attention.

"Kagome? Why are you here?" Sakura asked, curious.

"Well, I'm inviting all the rookies, minus Sasuke, and TenTen to come to a little picnic I'm having tomorrow. Wanna come?"

"Sure, why not… When and where is it?"

"Around noon in a clearing about five hundred meters west from training ground five."

"Alright, I'll be there." Sakura then went back to training.

On her way home, Kagome ran into Ino, who confirmed that Choji and Shikamaru would be coming. She also ran into Kiba again who said that Hinata was coming and Shino didn't say, but he guessed it was a yes. _Perfect, everyone's coming, minus Sasuke, Neji, and Lee of course_… She then made her way home where Honey immediately fell asleep.

When she got to the kitchen, she started to cut some cheese for the sandwiches. She also washed some tomatoes, green and purple grapes, peaches, and strawberries. She then put everything she would need to prepare, minus the fruits, in the fridge for tomorrow. By the time she was done, she was practically asleep on her feet, so she went to bed without dinner.

.

Kagome woke up early, knowing she'd have to make twice as much food just to satisfy Choji alone. She washed her hands, then sliced some tomatoes and peaches, added some salt and pepper, mixed it all around, and covered it so it wouldn't go bad. She then washed her hands and got out some gouda cheese. She put the cheese and the green grapes and hand mixed them, careful not to crush any grapes, but still coat every grape with cheese.

After, she washed her hands again. She put the purple grapes into a bowl and started crushing them. She then mixed the crushed grapes with some sugar and put the mixture on the stove to boil, adding more sugar when it did. She then put it in a few jars, because of how much she made, and left it to cool. After washing her hands, she did the same thing with the strawberries.

When she was done with the strawberry jam, the grape jam was cool enough, so she put it in the fridge. Leaving the strawberry jam to cool some more, Kagome started to make the sandwiches. Seeing as she didn't know which types people liked, she made all kinds, ending up with twenty different kinds and two of each kind. When she was done with this, she put the strawberry jam in the fridge.

When she was done with this, she made rice balls. She only made plain ones, but she made a lot. When she was done with that, she grabbed a picnic blanket big enough to seat ten people, packed all the food, along with lots of water, plates, and cups, grabbed a sleeping Honey and her crimson sack, and left for the training grounds.

When she got there, she set up the picnic blanket and put the food out. Seeing as they would all still be a few minutes, she got out her iPod and iHome and set it to a song she hadn't heard in a while. Just before the song started, she felt all their auras come within earshot, all of them somehow coming at the same time. She could also feel Neji's aura within earshot, though his wasn't coming this way, but she had no doubt in her mind that he could hear it.

.

"_**Now I will tell you what I've done for you**_

_**50 thousand tears I've cried**_

_**Screaming deceiving and bleeding for you**_

_**And you still won't hear me**_

_**(Going under)**_

_**Don't want your hand this time I'll save myself**_

_**Maybe I'll wake up for once (Wake up for once)**_

_**Not tormented daily defeated by you**_

_**Just when I thought I'd reached the bottom**_-"

.

She could tell some people came together, while others came from different direction, signifying this was all a huge coincidence.

.

"_**I'm dying again**_

_**I'm going under (Going under)**_

_**Drowning in you (Drowning in you)**_

_**I'm falling forever (Falling forever)**_

_**I've got to break through**_

_**I'm going under**_

.

_**Blurring and stirring the truth and the lies**_

_**So I don't know what's real (So I don't know what's real) and what's not (Don't know what's real and what's not)**_

_**Always confusing the thoughts in my head**_

_**So I can't trust myself anymore**_

.

_**I'm dying again**_

_**I'm going under (Going under)**_

_**Drowning in you (Drowning in you)**_

_**I'm falling forever (Falling forever)**_

_**I've got to break through (I'm)**_

.

_**So go on and scream**_

_**Scream at me I'm so far away**_

_**I won't be broken again**_

_**I've got to breathe I can't keep going under**_

.

_**I'm dying again**_

_**I'm going under (Going under)**_

_**Drowning in you (Drowning in you)**_

_**I'm falling forever (Falling forever)**_

_**I've got to break through (I'm)**_

_**Going under (Going under)**_

_**Going under (Drowning in you)**_

_**I'm going under**_"

.

By now, everyone was just outside the clearing, a few wondering what that song was. They were Ino, Choji, Shikamaru, and TenTen, everyone else had heard that music before.

"Th-that was v-very good K-Kagome," Hinata stuttered, stepping out from behind a tree.

"Thanks. Now, I've got everything ready, I've got cheery background music. Let's get this party started!" Kagome exclaimed. She then turned on some good background music.

They soon all got into a good mood, relaxing with friends and eating good food. Almost as soon as everyone was done, Kagome walked over to her iPod.

"Alright, now for that song Naruto told you guys about before the first exam," Kagome said. "Now, everyone spread out. All you have to do in this song is do what the guy tells you. If you don't understand what he means, just watch what either me, Sakura, or Naruto do." She then pressed a button and the Cha Cha Slide came on. Everyone somehow forced Shikamaru and Shino into doing it, though they're still not sure how.

By the end of the picnic, it was almost time for a normal persons dinner, so they put an end to the picnic. Kagome, having nothing better to do, went to Ichiraku ramen shop and ordered an early dinner of oden, chatting with Ayame the entire time, since no one else was in there then.

When she got home, she was really tired, so she went right to sleep.


	6. Chapter 6

**I don't own Iris by the Goo Goo Dolls.**

"_Inu_"

"_**Singing**_"

-^-v-^-v-^-v-^-v-^-v

Chapter 6

Around five days after the picnic, Kagome decided to go to the hospital and see first-hand how bad Lee's injuries really were. If there's one thing Kagome's learned in her time here, it's that some things that happen in the anime and manga don't happen in this dimension unless she makes it happen.

She got there early, just as visiting hours were starting, so she could catch him before he tried to train with his injuries. "Lee," Kagome said, knocking on the door as she walked in. He was just lying there, looking at the ceiling. He looked over when he heard her. "Did you hear the news?" He simply nodded, not even bothering to give his usual peppiness. "Do you want some help around that?"

"Y-you can do that?" he asked.

"I've… probably had more experience than most doctors here. Let's leave it at that…"

"I… would very much like your help."

Kagome nodded and walked over to him. "I'm just going to give you a quick check up first. It won't hurt, but it'll be over in a second." She then let her hand glow with her miko ki and put it over Lee's forehead. She did a quick check up on him, to find that he was worse off than Tsunade said. "Lee," Kagome said, choosing her words carefully. "Do you still want to be a ninja…?"

"Of course I do, Kagome. You know how dedicated I am to fulfilling my dream."

"Then… I'm going to do something… Every day, as soon as visiting hours start, I'm going to come in here and heal you a little bit more each time. This will hurt, because, well… let's use an example. You know how when you get a broken bone, when it heals naturally it doesn't hurt much? Well, that's only because it heals so slowly. If it were to happen in, let's say, half the time, you would experience a certain amount of pain until it was healed. This is because your nerves and cells are being forcibly regenerated and reattached instead of your body using existing ones. So, if we were to do this, I'd need you to not yell out at all. This all needs to be kept secret from everyone, except the Hokage," Kagome explained.

Lee, only understanding the gist of it, quickly agreed.

Before she could start, Kagome added, "And try to not push yourself too hard until I give the all-clear, okay?" This was a rhetorical question, seeing as she didn't give him time to answer before she started to force certain bone bits back in place. She only moved a total of a few square inches of inner bone, seeing as she needed to both keep him from screaming, and she needed to get back to her training a.s.a.p.

"Alright Lee, get some rest now," Kagome said, leaving.

.

Then next nine days went on like this. She found out that, instead of resting a few days after she started, he was doing one-handed pushups. On the tenth day, Kagome healed him too much, causing him to pass out before he could scream. "Sorry Lee," Kagome muttered, leaving the room.

She had just made it to the door of the hospital when she felt the youki that she could always feel whenever Gaara uses sand. _Oh no, that's today! Should I interfere? Or_…

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

Gaara had just finished explaining to Naruto and Shikamaru why he was like what he is, but Gai had yet to interfere, mainly because he wasn't there, when they heard a voice come down the hallways of the hospital. It was singing.

.

"_**And I'd give up forever to touch you**_

_**Cause I know that you feel me somehow**_

_**You're the closest to heaven that I'll ever be**_

_**And I don't want to go home right now**_

.

_**And all I can taste is this moment**_

_**And all I can breathe is your life**_

_**Cause sooner or later it's over**_

_**I just don't want to miss you tonight**_

.

_**And I don't want the world to see me**_

_**Cause I don't think that they'd understand**_

_**When everything's made to be broken**_

_**I just want you to know who I am**_"

.

For some reason, the longer this song went on, the more calm everyone felt, including Gaara.

.

"_**And you can't fight the tears that ain't coming**_

_**Or the moment of truth in your lies**_

_**When everything feels like the movies**_

_**Yeah you bleed just to know you're alive**_

.

_**And I don't want the world to see me**_

_**Cause I don't think that they'd understand**_

_**When everything's made to be broken**_

_**I just want you to know who I am**_-"

.

There was a pause here, before it started again.

.

"_**And I don't want the world to see me**_

_**Cause I don't think that they'd understand**_

_**When everything's made to be broken**_

_**I just want you to know who I am**_

.

_**And I don't want the world to see me**_

_**Cause I don't think that they'd understand**_

_**When everything's made to be broken**_

_**I just want you to know who I am**_

_**I just want you to know who I am**_

_**I just want you to know who I am**_

_**I just want you to know who I am**_"

.

When the voice stopped singing, it was right outside the door. The door then opened to reveal Kagome. "You guys should really remember to send word to me when you want to fight someone with y- Someone that strong," Kagome said, smiling like there wasn't a danger of getting killed by Gaara. No one missed her slipup.

"Kagome, what are you doing here?" Naruto asked, ignoring the slipup.

"I felt a rise in Gaara's k- chakra, and it was in the hospital, so I assumed it couldn't be anything good, knowing Gaara's personality."

"And how'd you know Gaara's personality?" Shikamaru asked.

"I TOLD YOU BEF- oh, wait, that was Naruto… I HAVE MY WAYS!" Kagome exclaimed, which Naruto face palmed at.

"Wow, you really have changed since the academy…" Shikamaru said, dumbfounded.

"Yep!" She then turned to face the forgotten Gaara. "Ya know Gaara, there's a line in the song. 'And you bleed just to know you're alive'. That, basically, applies to you, only you kill to know you're alive. There are ways to feel alive other than killing someone. Now, I gotta go. If anyone needs me, I'll be at the clearing where we had the picnic," Kagome said, walking out the door. Before she was gone completely, she called over her shoulder, "See you all at the finals tomorrow." And that's when Gai arrived.

.

The next morning, Kagome woke up and made some pancakes, singing a weird song that had to do with waffles. "Honey, breakfast! We're gonna need it! The third exam is today and, if you wanna come, you have to eat breakfast!" This caused Honey to make a bee-line for the kitchen.

"_I want food! Give me the food woman! I wanna go with_!" Honey yipped.

So, they both at breakfast and headed out. When she got to the stadium where the third exam would take place, they both entered and went to where a few of the other contestants were standing, considering she was still at least an hour early.

After the hour was up, there still wasn't any sign of Sasuke or Dosu, but Kagome knew the reason why neither were there. _I hope I don't need to interfere here too much_…

They then heard the Hokage speak. "Thanks everyone for coming to… the Hidden Leaf chuunin selection exam! We now start the main tournament matches between the nine participants who made it through the preliminaries. Please stay… and watch until the end!" With that, he was done.

They were then shown a new sheet containing the new fight order. It was basically the same, the only difference being that Shikamaru didn't have to fight an extra match because Dosu wasn't on the sheet. When they were going up to the area where the contestants watched, Kagome stayed behind a second longer. "Luck Naruto," she said, before heading after the others.

When she was up in the stands, Kagome sat the same way she did for most of the prelims, legs over the edge, Honey in her lap. "_Go Naruto_!" Honey cheered. "_Show him who's boss_!"

When Naruto used the shadow clone jutsu, Kagome thought, _Naruto's got a plan_. "That's it Naruto," she said, confusing those around her, minus Honey.

"…Become Hokage… eh? It's impossible… with that. Talent is decided at your birth… You could say that everything is decided when a person is born," they heard Neji say.

"Grr…" Kagome thought, _Didn't I already talk to that damned Hyuga about that_! But didn't voice it. After an attack that involved a lot of Naruto clones, and Neji attacking what he thought was the real one, Kagome muttered, "That's my teammate…" when 'Naruto' _poof_ed out of existence, only for Naruto and a clone to come up behind him.

"_Yay! I knew Naruto wasn't that stupid! The big idiot_!" Honey cheered.

"Didn't you just say he wasn't that stupid? Why'd you call him an idiot?" Kagome asked, amused.

"_I called him an idiot? Force of habit, I guess_."

Kagome's head snapped up when she felt youki rise from Naruto. She had listened to the explanation from Neji about the curse mark and what happened to his father, but she knew the truth of it, so she was petting Honey. _Damn, I _so_ hope that isn't Shippo… if it is, I don't know what I'd do_, she thought.

"_It's the youki that feels like Shippo's. Are you sure you don't think it's him_?" Honey didn't get an answer.

She saw Neji get up. "Heheheh," Kagome chuckled quietly. Everyone around her, minus Honey, thought the same thing. _Wasn't she on Naruto's side_?

She laughed outright when she saw Neji approach the crater 'Naruto' was in, only to get hit by the real Naruto, who went underground and came up to punch Neji under his chin.

After Naruto told Neji why he failed the graduation exam three times, and people were cheering for him, Kagome jumped down next to Naruto. "I told you, Destiny doesn't have a path, only checkpoints. We decide what comes next," Kagome told Neji, before walking with Naruto back to the stands.

When they got there, Sasuke still hadn't arrived. "Don't worry Naruto, he'll come, he's just coming with Kakashi-sensei, so he'll definitely be late," Kagome told Naruto once they had made it up the steps to find no Sasuke. "Besides, this match is what a lot of people came to see, so they'll probably give him a slight brake and move on to the next match as a delay."

"How do you know that?" Naruto asked, confused.

"How many times do I have to tell you! I HAVE MY WAYS!" Kagome yelled, causing everyone in the area to turn her way. No one that didn't know dared question her. When the examiner announced that they would push the match back, Kagome smirked and whispered, "Told you."

She ignored basically everything up until Naruto pushed Shikamaru down when his match was called, seeing as Kankuro forfeited. "Shikamaru, if you forfeit now, I'm going to kill you! You have plenty of time to do the match before your laziness gets the better of you!" Kagome yelled down.

Then, the match started… kind of. Temari charged at Shikamaru before the examiner said to start the match.

"Ya know, I don't really want to fight… and I don't care whether I become a chuunin or not… but I'm not going to lose to a girl!" she heard Shikamaru say.

"Sexist pig," Kagome muttered. After Temari was caught in Shikamaru's shadow, Kagome started to laugh, knowing what was coming next. "Shikamaru is too lazy for this," she muttered, making everyone wonder why she said it. Kagome smirked when Naruto jumped down into the arena. "I knew he would give up… I didn't even need my ways to know that," Kagome said to no one.

"_Kagome, is Hinata going to be okay, I felt her aura fluctuate badly_…" Honey asked, just now getting to the problem, seeing as all the exciting stuff was seemingly over.

"I don't know, but I'm going down there to congratulate Shikamaru, you stay here." And so, Kagome put Honey on the ground and jumped back into the arena. "Good job with the strategy Shikamaru, I'm not even sure if I could've seen through that one."

"Thanks, but I'm not sure if that's a compliment coming from you," Shikamaru said.

"Ah, ya weirdo," Kagome muttered.

A swirl of wind and leaves suddenly appeared in the center of the arena. When it settled, it showed Sasuke and Kakashi standing back to back. "Sorry we're late," Kakashi said.

"Told ya so," Kagome said, smirking.

After everything was settled, Shikamaru, Naruto, and Kagome all decided to head back up to the area where the contestants are. As they got to the top of the first set of stairs, Kagome froze midstep. "Y-youki…" she muttered accidently, earning the attention of Naruto and Shikamaru. "So much evil intent given off at once… What is he doing?"

"What is who doing? And what's youki?" Naruto asked.

"Huh? Who said anything about youki?" Kagome asked, trying to brush it off. _Damn_, she thought, _I thought I said that stuff in my head_.

"Why don't you want us to know what it is you were talking about?" Shikamaru asked, too curious to listen to his laziness.

"It-it's nothing… You'd need the Hokage's permission before I could tell you. Even then, you'd need my permission. For right now, let's just say that someone's doing something that gives off a lot of killing intent," Kagome said, not liking that she was keeping such important things away from her friends, but knowing it was necessary.

They all stopped when Gaara appeared, coming to walk down the stairs that they had just gone up. He totally ignored them as he walked past. Kagome subconsciously put up a thin barrier of miko ki, keeping the dangerous mixture of youki and killing intent away from her.

"You guys do whatever. I need to pick up Honey, then I'll come find you," Kagome said, walking up the last two steps before going down the hallway Gaara came from.

On her way, she came across a spot in the hall that had blood splashed everywhere, and remnants of the mixture of youki and killing intent lingering in the air. She sent out her aura to get rid of the suffocating mixture, but did nothing about the blood, even though the smell basically did the same thing for her nose that the mixture did to her sense of self preservation.

When she made it to the top, Kagome said, "_Honey, we're leaving. I need to go make sure nothing bad happens_."

"_Got it_!" Honey yipped, running over to where Kagome was, arms ready to catch the hyper puppy.

As they were walking down the stairs, Kagome explained the situation in inu. When she got back to the second flight of stairs, Naruto and Shikamaru were already gone. By the time her and Honey made it to where Naruto and the others were, she came back just in time to see Sasuke use the Chidori. "What did I miss?" Kagome asked.

Before anyone could answer, they heard Gaara scream, obviously taking the hit. Kagome froze, feeling a dramatic rise in the youki coming from the shell of sand Gaara had created. It was so much, Kagome knew what was coming next, even if she didn't watch the anime or read the manga. _The demon… It's awake… And it has such incredibly powerful youki… This is definitely not Hachi… Who is it_? When Gaara dropped the shell of sand, feathers suddenly floated into the edge of her vision, before instantly disappearing. She saw a few nin do a hand sign, but everyone who didn't dropped, having fallen asleep. "What was that, a Genjutsu?" Kagome asked to no one, but it was Gai who answered.

"You didn't release it, I would've seen if you did. How come you didn't succumb to the Genjutsu like everyone else?" he asked.

"Well," Kagome said, scratching her neck nervously. "I don't know why, but Genjutsu never work on me. Oh yes, almost forgot. The Leaf is going to be under attack in 3… 2…" and then a large cloud of smoke rose from where the Hokage and 'Kazekage' were sitting.

Suddenly, Sasuke jumped over the wall of the stadium, chasing after where Gaara, Temari, and Kankuro had gone moments before. Seconds later, and an 'ANBU' member was in front of them, Sound-nin on both sides of him. Suddenly, while Sakura was trying to find Sasuke in the arena, sound in attacked her. They were stopped by Kakashi, who had stabbed two in the head with a kunai, and Kagome, who had drawn her sword and stabbed the last through the heart. When Kagome got her sword out of the body in one swift movement, she shook the blood off and sheathed it.

Honey was barking at Shikamaru, knowing he was awake. Honey, her bigger form no bigger than her small form, was defenseless when one of the Sound-nin attacked her, having thought Kagome was an Inuzuka. Kagome, just turning around, could only watch as the nin came closer. "Honey!" she yelled, not able to stop her spin in time. The kunai was deflected at the last second by Gai. "Gai-sensei, thanks!" Kagome yelled, before opening her crimson sack and putting her in. She wasn't in all the way, but enough so only her head and front paws were sticking out.

Kagome went back to fighting off the Sound-nin who were trying to hurt her friends and sensei. "Kagome!" she heard Kakashi say. She jumped over to where he was. "You're going with Sakura, Naruto, and Shikamaru when I send them out with my summons."

"Got it!"

"Now, keep fighting until I send you all out." After nodding, she jumped away.

From the corner of her eye, she could see Kakashi talking to Sakura, and Sakura's shocked face. She also saw Kakashi summoned Pakkun. As Sakura and Pakkun went to wake up Naruto, her sword flew out of her hands, having been caught by surprise. After quickly pulling out the fan and using the Dance of Blades, she caught the sword midair and landed between Sakura and Pakkun, and Naruto, startling Sakura. "Hehe, sorry Sakura," Kagome said, before going back into the fight.

She saw Gai punch a Sound-nin through the wall behind Naruto when he tried to attack him. Kagome jumped over, knowing that she would have to listen. They all jumped out the hole Gai made in the wall and started to jump from branch to branch in the forest, chasing after Sasuke.

"Hey Pakkun?" Kagome asked, earning said dogs attention. "Why'd Kakashi-sensei summon you when I could just track him myself?"

"You can? But you're a human? How is that?" Pakkun asked.

"Let's just say I've had practice. Anyway, let's just get this over and done with. We hurry after them!" Kagome said determinedly, her nose twitching.

.

"Sasuke stopped, he caught up to Gaara, Temari, and Kankuro," Kagome announced before Pakkun had a chance.

Shikamaru had left the group to create a distraction so they could get to Sasuke faster.

"I can also feel… Shino…" Kagome added. "Should we go around Shino's fight?" she asked after she felt everyone, minus Shino and Kankuro, go on the move again.

"Yeah," Pakkun said, turning so their direction wouldn't go over to that area.

.

Just as they arrived, Sasuke, whose curse mark had partially activated, was about to get hit by Gaara, who had partially transformed into his other form. Naruto kicked Gaara so Sasuke wouldn't get hurt any worse. Sakura and Pakkun appeared next to Sasuke, while Kagome had gone around, getting a different angle of the battle. She suggested she do this because she knew that Sakura had to get trapped in the sand.

She saw Sakura get hit, and immediately pass out when she hit a tree. She pulled Honey out of her crimson sack, and then pulled out something else. Something she thought that she'd never use. She saw Gaara had transformed every part of his body, minus his legs, and had used the sand shuriken attack on Naruto as she was getting ready to use it.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

"HIRAIKOTSU!" was heard from behind, before Gaara got hit in the back by what appeared to be a giant boomerang. When they followed it to the person who threw it, they saw a smirking Kagome, who caught it with a single hand. "Who missed me?" Kagome asked like she was greeting a group of friends and not in a battle scene.

"Kagome! Why didn't you use that thing earlier!" Naruto yelled.

"Sorry, had a bit of a delay!" she said before turning her attention to Gaara. "Now, how should I put this… STOP THIS DAMNED INSANITY BEFORE I GET PISSED!" she screamed.

This distracted Gaara enough for Naruto to go through with his plan. He created some shadow clones, only for them and him to get hit into a tree, leaving only the original. Kagome saw his resolve harden, and put her Hiraikotsu away, putting Honey back in the top. Kagome smirked when she saw Naruto do the 'thousand years of death' technique that Kakashi had used once, knowing that there was an explosive tag attached to a kunai in his hand when he did it.

She heard Naruto make the revelation that you needed to have someone special to you to become truly strong. "At a boy, Naruto," Kagome muttered, before the forest was filled with Naruto shadow clones.

Suddenly, there was a giant sand raccoon in the forest, where Gaara once was. Naruto then summoned the toad boss, Gamabunta. Kagome jumped onto his head with Naruto.

"Hope you don't mind Gamabunta, but I need a good view of this fight. I have a feeling Shukaku's gonna come out and I need to talk with him," Kagome said.

"Fine, I don't care."

Then, the fight started. When it came to the point where Gaara 'fell asleep' and Shukaku came out, Kagome stopped the fight momentarily. "Hey, Shukaku!" she yelled, gaining his attention. "Do you know another raccoon, more cowardly named Hachi!"

"Wha- How do you know my father!" he yelled right back.

"So that's it. You could say he and I were friends for a while, until I… disappeared," she said, putting enough chakra into her feet so she could stay on Gamabunta for the rest of the fight.

She saw Naruto punch Gaara, unraveling the jutsu he used to go to sleep. Kagome, who had somehow zoned out after that, snapped back into reality when the felt the fox's chakra rise. She face palmed when she saw Naruto summon the chakra just to get out of the sand, and ended up head butting Gaara. Kagome, after giving thanks to Gamabunta and Gamakichi, jumped after Naruto and Gaara. She pushed her ki into her feet enough so that her descent was slowed.

When she made it into the clearing they fell into, Naruto had dragged himself partially across the clearing with his chin. She could tell that he had already explained about being acknowledged. She sighed. "Naruto… he can't move, I think he's done."

"G-good," he said, setting his head down.

"He's right, you know," Kagome said, surprising Gaara. "If you keep this up, you'll be stuck in that lonely pit of hell for all eternity. I can't relate, I've always been surrounded by loved ones, but… Sometimes, if a feeling's strong enough, I can feel others emotions… I could feel your pain and loneliness a few times. You… can still change Gaara, and you can still become someone likeable, someone who protects their precious people. Just, think about it," she ended, picking up the now unconscious Naruto and putting him over her shoulder. "If you will change, I could easily become one of those people."

Temari and Kankuro appeared into the clearing. When Gaara called them off, she knew he got the picture. Sasuke came into the clearing too, before Temari and Kankuro picked up Gaara and left.

"Is Sakura okay?" At his nod, she relaxed. They all went back to the village after getting Sakura and Pakkun, Kagome moping slightly, knowing what had happened while they were gone.

.

Two days later, a funeral was held. It was for the third and all those who had died in that battle. For the funeral, Kagome was wearing a totally black version of her normal outfit, but without the crimson sack. After the funeral was over and everyone had left, Kagome went over to the picture of Sarutobi and prayed for him. When she was done, she caught up to Naruto, Kakashi, Sakura, and Sasuke, who she had sent Honey after. Honey was wearing a black dog collar.

.

A few days later, around lunch time, Kagome decided to eat something other than rice balls for lunch. She went to the Ichiraku ramen shop. When got there, she sat down next to Naruto, who was eating a large bowl of ramen. "Hey Naruto," she greeted. "Hey Ayame. Can I have one large bowl and one small bowl of oden?"

"Course, Kagome," Ayame said, giving the order to her father.

"Hey Kagome?" Naruto said, pausing in his ramen consumption. "How can you come here and not get ramen?"

"Easy. Oden is my favorite food, and they sell it here. That's how."

"Order up," Ayame said, setting the two bowls down in front of Kagome.

Kagome picked up Honey and put her on the seat next to her, so she could enjoy her oden too. While Kagome, Naruto, and Honey ate, Jiraiya came in, interrupting them. When they were leaving, Kagome wished them luck. _Hmm, I still need to go visit Lee today, maybe train my miko power some more_… Kagome though, trying to figure out what she was going to do today.

So, Kagome went to the Yamanaka flower shop. "Hey Ino," Kagome greeted as she walked in. "Oh! Hey Kagome. I haven't seen you in a while."

"Yeah, I've been a little busy. I decided to go visit Lee for a while, so I thought I'd get him some flowers."

"What kinds were you thinking of?"

"I was thinking some pink lilacs, meaning youth and acceptance, and some yarrow, meaning healing," Kagome said, picking up the correct flowers as she said them.

"That's a good choice, they look nice together," Ino said, getting the price for the flowers.

After Kagome paid for the flowers, two lilacs and one yarrow, Kagome went to visit Lee. She knocked on the door as she walked in. "Hey Lee, sorry I'm late, I was helping some civilians rebuild."

"That is okay Kagome," Lee said. He then noticed the flowers. "What do you have there?"

"I have some yarrow, meaning healing, and some pink lilacs, meaning youth. I thought you'd like the youth ones. Now, I'm going to continue with healing you."

So, Kagome put the flowers in a vase, then healed Lee just a little more, still causing him pain. When she was done, she left without a word.

"Let's see, I've got the whole day to myself…" Kagome muttered. "What should I do, train?"

"_Don't ask me, I'm just as clueless as you are on what we should do. How long did you say they'd be gone again_?" Honey asked.

"Like a month… Maybe two…" she sighed.

"What's a month or two?" a feminine voice asked.

Kagome looked over and saw TenTen and Neji coming over, the latter being dragged by the former. "Oh, hey TenTen, Neji. Did you guys want something?"

"I saw you and wanted to say hi, and I dragged Neji along. So, what's a month or two?" TenTen repeated, being persistent.

"Oh, about a month or two until Honey will finally grow some," Kagome said easily. It wasn't a complete lie. Honey's larger form would've grown to about the size of a year old Shih-Tzu.

"Well then, good for her!"

"You guys wanna hang out? I've got nothing to do for the day," Kagome asked, bored as hell.

"Sure, why not. Did you check up on Lee?" TenTen asked, having seen her come out of the hospital.

"Yeah, he's doing great. He's still got a little way to go before he gets back his usual peppiness."

"That's good," TenTen muttered.

.

"Gah!" Kagome said, dropping herself on the couch. It had been about a month and a half since Naruto left. She had just returned from healing Lee. "When will Naruto be back! I healed Lee to the point where Tsunade found him in the anime and manga, so now all I can do is just visit, everyone's busy, I don't feel like training, and I'm BORED!" Kagome announced to no one.

"Everyone's busy, huh?" Neji said from her window. Neji and Kagome had been hanging out some, but that was only when Kagome was bored and Neji had nothing to do.

"Since when were you th- never mind, I don't care…" Kagome said, covering her eyes with her arm.

"So, since you come from a place that has this entire dimension as a manga and an anime, I have a question to ask."

"Shoot." Getting a no response, she elaborated. "Go ahead."

"What will happen to Lee?"

"You want the whole story, or just a summary?"

"The whole story."

"Lee is… a semi-important character. Tsunade has only one option for Lee. A surgery that has only a fifty percent success rate, the other fifty meaning death, or staying as he is. Lee has a hard time deciding, and Gai-sensei is the only other person, besides Tsunade and Lee himself that knows about the choice. Gai talks to Lee, and tells him that if Lee doesn't make it out of the surgery alive, that he would kill himself after, having made the success of Lee his ninja way. The surgery goes off without a hitch, and Lee can become a ninja again."

"So Lee will be okay?"

"Well, that's the thing. Sometimes while I'm here, things don't go as planned. I need to interfere secretly to keep things in check, like with the preliminary match with TenTen facing off against Temari. If I hadn't sent a gust of wind at TenTen, she would have broken her back on Temari's fan. I'm going to try to convince Tsunade to let me help with the surgery, so I can make sure Lee doesn't die…" Kagome explained. She then hopped out of her seat. "Naruto's back!" she announced before racing out of her apartment with speed almost no human can achieve.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

Naruto had just walked in the gate when he was knocked down by a black and silver blur. The blur was hugging him. "Hey Naruto!" the now identified Kagome greeted. "I was so bored without you! I couldn't even be sent on a mission! Even Honey was allowed on a mission!"

"Uh, Kagome, could you get off of me?" Naruto said, wondering why she was on him in the first place.

"Sorry Naruto!" she then turned and started to walk away. "I'm going to go check on Lee now if you need me," she called over her shoulder.

.

"So Lee, Lady Tsunade arrived," Kagome said, walking in for the second time that day. "She'll be coming by any minute now."

"That's good to hear," Lee said, smiling lightly. (does anyone else think I can't write Lee, cuz I'm making him way too calm)

After a few minutes, Tsunade came into the room and assessed the damage done to Lee. "So… how is he?" Gai asked after a minute of silence.

"It breaks my heart to tell you this…" Tsunade said sadly. "But you must quit being a shinobi."

Gai and Lee were shocked into silence, before Gai went into denial and accused Tsunade of not being herself. When Lee asked if there was hope, Kagome smiled softly. After Tsunade explained it, and Lee left, Kagome knew the gears were set in motion. _Now I just need to make sure I'm in the operating room when Lee gets the surgery_, she thought. When Gai left, but before Tsunade did, Kagome spoke up, obviously forgotten. "Lady Tsunade," she said, startling her. "We need to talk later. It's for the Hokage's ears only." When Tsunade nodded, Kagome opened the window and jumped out, ready to go back home.

Right before she got home, an ANBU appeared by her side. "Kagome Higurashi?" At her nod, he continued. "Lady Tsunade wishes to speak with you." And with that, he was gone, leaving Kagome to her own devices.

Kagome shrugged and took off toward the Hokage's office, taking the rooftops. She knocked on the door. Hearing an 'enter', she went in. "You wanted to see me?" Kagome asked, pretending to not know why she was called there.

"You said that we had something to talk about and you don't know why I called you here…" Tsunade deadpanned.

"Oh that! Well, you're probably not going to believe it…"

"Does it have something to do with why your name's 'Kagome Higurashi'?"

"Uh, yeah. Well, I come from another reality. Here, my reality is an anime and manga, while in my reality, here is an anime and manga. I am the Kagome Higurashi from the show _Inuyasha_. It's all pretty much true up until a certain point, but that point was crucial for how powerful I am today.

"Long story short, I'm pretty powerful, and a pretty good healer. This was all I needed to tell you."

"Another thing I want to ask, now that I have the story. How many people besides me and you know?"

"Iruka-sensei, my dog Honey, and Neji Hyuga."

"Alright. Tell me one more thing," Tsunade said before she could leave. At her nod, she continued. "Why do you have those six extra symbols on your forehead protector?"

"No one's actually asked about those yet," Kagome muttered. "They're to represent my loyalties to all my friends. The third allowed me to do this as long as the leaf symbol was the most prominent." The six symbols were what looked like a fluffy tail for Shippo, sleek twin tails for Kirara, a small Hiraikotsu for Sango, a staff for Miroku, a crescent moon for Sesshomaru, and a yin yang symbol for Inuyasha.

"Alright, fine with me. Dismissed," Tsunade said before Kagome left.

_The days feel so much longer here_, Kagome thought for the billionth time in her stay here, wanting the day to be over. _Well, Honey comes back tomorrow… I still don't get how she was allowed on a mission if she's not supposed to go on a mission without me_.

Kagome would've went to find Neji, but she knew he was busy. He would almost always seek her out when he wasn't busy. She would've gone to visit Sasuke, but she didn't feel like being in that drama. She would visit Hinata, but she was probably doing something too.

_Well, that leaves… TenTen, Shino, Kiba and Akamaru, Lee, and Ino, Shikamaru, and Choji… I'll bug the last bunch_, Kagome decided. So, she set off in the direction of their auras.

As she was about to round a corner when she heard Ino say something. Normally she would be able to hear it just fine, but her voice was coming from a few hallways down, not the hallway she was about to turn down. After she heard Choji reply, she had come to a good point in the hallway where she could easily hear the conversation.

"Girls always want to look as pretty as possible for someone they like," she heard Ino say as she got to the corner. She knew this conversation, and decided to let it happen before she bugged them.

After Ino left, and Shikamaru came out, Kagome reached into her crimson sack and pulled out some trail mix. It wasn't really trail mix, more like chocolate chips and mini marshmallows in a bag, but she called it trail mix. When she put everything back, minus the trail mix, she noticed Shikamaru had left, leaving Choji there.

"Hey Choji!" Kagome said, gaining his attention. "Don't change." When she said that, he got confused. "If you change for anyone but yourself, you're a sellout. If you're a sellout, you've lost my respect. If you don't want to lose my respect, then you don't change for anyone else, because I think you're stronger than most others give you credit for."

"Oh, um, thanks Kagome…" Choji said, not expecting that.

"Here," she said, handing him the trail mix. "Enjoy." She then walked away, deciding to go about her own devices.

Feeling the rise in chakra over by the hospital, Kagome raced off, trying to get there as fast as she could. _I forgot that today was the day that Naruto and Sasuke fight… and tonight is the night Sasuke leaves for the Sound… the idiot_, Kagome thought. She made it to the roof just as Kakashi left.

"I came as soon as I could!" Kagome panted, not having to go that fast in a long time. "Did Naruto and Sasuke try to kill each other yet?"

"And how'd you know they were going to try to kill each other?" Sakura asked.

"How many times do I have to tell you people before it finally sinks in? I HAVE MY WAYS!" Kagome exclaimed.

"Well, yes, they did…" Sakura said, still a little scared from having gone in between the two deadly attacks.

"Don't worry Sakura… You know that when you can't do it yourself, you'll always have your friends by your side, don't you?" Kagome said, ruffling Sakura's hair with a smile on her face. "Now, I've got some other business to take care of."

"Go ahead Kagome," Sakura said, her spirits lifted just from being in Kagome's presence, like always. This way why she was almost never angry with the slightly taller girl.

So, Kagome hopped onto another rooftop, and went back to her apartment. _I'm bored again_… Kagome thought. She just didn't want to be around for any water works should she have stayed.

"Kagome Higurashi?" another ANBU said, suddenly next to her in her apartment.

"Don't you idiots ever knock? For all you know, I could've been changing! Or I could've been setting up a bear trap right where you poofed in!" Kagome yelled, just wanting to express some of her feelings in an odd manner.

"Um, sorry, but the Hokage wishes to speak with you," he said before poofing away, probably to stay away from the 'unstable' girl.

_I wonder if she wanted to talk with me about something else_… Kagome thought, walking there. She got there in two minutes. When she entered, she saw Tsunade sitting there, with a box on the side of her desk.

"Kagome Higurashi," Tsunade said with a smile. "While you didn't actually fight in the tournament for the chuunin exams, everyone who saw you fight during the battle said that they thought you were ready to become a chuunin." Kagome was astonished at this. "Kagome, congratulation, you are now a chuunin of the Leaf!" (sorry, trying to go by the anime part where Shikamaru becomes a chuunin, and I really don't wanna skim through all those episodes to find it again, just to change it up a lot)

"Woah, back up!" Kagome said, thrown through a loop. "I'm a chuunin now? And I didn't even fight in the tournament?"

"Yep! Now, take you vest and leave, I'm very busy as of late. There's way too much paperwork here."

"Th-thanks," Kagome said, grabbing the vest that was in the box, before leaving the Hokage's office. _What just happened_? Kagome thought. _I didn't plan to become a chuunin. Oh well, this might actually work out in my favor_… she realized. _I can't wait to tell Honey_!


	7. Chapter 7

"_Inu_"

-^-v-^-v-^-v-^-v-^-v

Chapter 7

Night was falling quickly, so Kagome started to sneak through the trees towards the gate. She was planning to tell Sasuke something before he left. When she got there, she peeked out of the trees, just in time to see Sasuke knock Sakura out. She saw him put Sakura's unconscious body on the nearby bench.

"That wasn't very nice, you know," Kagome said, making Sasuke jump slightly. "I know where you're going-"

Sasuke cut her off. "Are you going to try and stop me too?"

"No, I just wanted to tell you something. You're selling your soul, and to someone who deserves death. If you step foot out of this village to go to him, you've lost my respect. When you lose my respect, and we go into battle with you on the side of the enemy, I will kill you, given the chance. So, step out the gates, and watch your back, because, unless you can somehow regain my respect, you're as good as dead in my eyes," Kagome finished, before walking away, intent on going back home and going to bed.

.

The next morning, Kagome woke up to find Honey had somehow come home during the night. She had come in and had crawled under her arm, in her usual position. Kagome made a quick breakfast, before eating it with Honey. Once they were done, they headed out. Kagome knew what was happening today, and she wanted to be a part of it. Kagome went to the gates of the Leaf and jumped on top of it, deciding to rest there, since she had nothing better to do.

After about half an hour of just lying there, Kagome was getting bored. Just as she was about to take off, she saw Shikamaru, Naruto, Choji, Kiba and Akamaru, and Neji, along with Sakura and Lee come up to the gates. _This was what I was waiting for_! Kagome thought, jumping down in front of them. "Don't think you're leaving without me!" Kagome said.

"_Or me, I can help too_!" Honey said.

Before anyone could say anything, an ANBU appeared next to Kagome and Honey. "Kagome Higurashi?" he asked.

"Again?" Kagome exclaimed. At his nod, she muttered. "Wonder what she wants now." She then perked back up. "Well, looks like I can't go with you guys, but I'll catch up with you later, and someone can tell me how it went!" Then, she was gone.

When she got to the Hokage's office, she went in without knocking. "What is it you wanted, Lady Tsunade?" Kagome asked.

Tsunade, not caring at the moment, told her what she called her for. "Kagome, you come from a place where this entire dimension is an anime and manga. I need to know the condition of the members of the team Shikamaru assembled to track down when they return. I want to be prepared."

Kagome sighed, knowing this would happen sooner or later. "Choji will have used those special pills that the Akimichi clan has, and will be in a state very close to death. A medical team can keep him alive just long enough for you to get him back into a stable condition using a medical book that the Nara clan will let you borrow. Neji will be in a semi-unstable condition. Another medical team, including Shizune, will have to use four hours (was that right?) of their time to put him in stable condition. Kiba will basically be fine, it's Akamaru you need to worry about between the two. You still don't need to worry about Akamaru too much, Kiba's sister will take good care of him. Shikamaru will come back the least harmed, having been thinking ahead. Lee… will have left the hospital to help… He'll come back okay… Naruto, he'll be fine… He's going to be a little down because he promised Sakura that he would bring Sasuke back, but the mission was a failure. You sent Gaara, Temari, and Kankuro to help, which is the reason that Kiba and Akamaru, Shikamaru, and Lee aren't that bad off," Kagome explained.

"You said that up until a certain point in the anime, that it was all the same. After that point, it was complete fiction. You've learned how to fight within that period of time, but what I want to know is can you heal," Tsunade said.

"I'm very good at healing. I can even heal demons, if need be."

"I have a feeling that some of the people I sent on this mission won't be as good off as you said they would be. I want you to follow the team Shikamaru assembled and heal them if need be. Don't reveal yourself if you don't have too, and don't heal anyone past the point where they were found in the anime or manga. I have a feeling that they'll need the recovery time."

"Before I leave, can I stop by the Yamanaka flower shop and get Lee some flowers for his surgery?"

"Alright, but hurry, I need this done," Tsunade said, before going back to whatever it was she was doing before.

Kagome left, and, having realized she left Honey at the gate, thought, _Well, I'll pick her up when I get there, for now, I want to get Lee those flowers_.

So, Kagome ran off to the Yamanaka flower shop, like she said she would. This time, Ino wasn't behind the counter. Kagome found what she was looking for. Some more yarrow, and some pink heather and sweet basil. After she paid for it, she went to find Lee. On the way, she charged the plants with her miko ki. Her ki, while making the flowers last longer, would help the surgery go off without a hitch. Should something happen where Lee was about to die, the miko ki would help with this. She finally found him on top of the Hokage tower. It seemed that he and Tsunade had just agreed that Lee would have the surgery.

"Hey guys!" Kagome said, dropping down. "Lee, I got you these for the surgery." She then handed him the flowers. "You already know what the yarrow means, but the pink heather and the sweet basil both mean 'good luck'." Before he could reply, she continued. "Now, I gotta go, I have a mission and I'm stretching my time here as it is. Later Lee, Tsunade!" Kagome said, jumping onto another rooftop before running from rooftop to rooftop to the gates.

When Kagome got there, she was met with an angry Honey. "_Now why'd you leave me! You know I can't keep up with you in this form, and I'm not allowed to use my other form in front of Leaf citizens without your permission! I almost went with those guys without you! What do you have to say for yourself_?" Honey yelled.

"We have a new mission," Kagome said simply.

At those five simple words, Honey started to run around like a madman. "_Mission! Mission! I have something to do besides train! Yay! Hurray_!" Honey kept saying over and over again, before Kagome picked up the suddenly hyper puppy.

"We need to leave now, so lose the energy, because we need to be quiet." Honey nodded.

So, Honey and Kagome set out, both tracking the scent of their friends. Now, you may be asking, 'Why isn't Kagome following their auras?' Well, the answer is quite simple. She forgot she could, with all the training she did to use her other senses to their full potential. Suddenly, the ground shook. _I gotta hurry. Choji could end this at any given time with the red pill_. Once again, the ground shook, but this time it was Choji, who had expanded to his largest form. Kagome was close enough to almost get crushed by it. She was literally a meter away from him.

"_Oh my GOD_!" Honey said. "_Choji almost killed us_!"

"Honey, Choji didn't know we were here. Anyway, we have to hurry. Choji will take the red pill soon, and we need to be there for that, so I can start healing him as soon as he passes out."

"_Got it_," Honey said as they set off again, regaining her composure.

Kagome got into a tree at the edge of the now devastated clearing as Choji punched Jirobo for insulting Shikamaru. Kagome smiled. She saw as Jirobo died from the hit and when Choji struggled to stand up afterward. She saw him pick up his headband and walk into the trees.

Before she lost sight of him, she followed, running across the clearing at full speed and jumping into another tree. She saw him lean against a tree, trying to get his breath back. She knew he thought he was going to die. She wanted to interfere now, but she knew that there was something he had to see. She saw him notice the butterfly, and when he decided to follow it. She followed him, making sure Honey kept her mouth shut.

She smiled softly when she noticed Choji's reaction to what was carved into the tree. She couldn't see his face, but his aura was radiating pure happiness. On the tree trunk, Naruto and Kiba had written messages to Choji. There was a hidden meaning to them. It showed that they knew he would make it. There was also an arrow, showing which direction they had gone in. Shikamaru had carved that (That's right, anime style b!tches).

He started to cry. Suddenly, he collapsed against the tree, the strain of the red pill finally taking its toll. Kagome jumped down from her tree, and started to walk into the clearing, Honey at her heals.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

Choji's vision grew fuzzy as he slid down the tree, pain in his chest. He looked up slightly, hearing a noise from in front of him. He could see a figure, probably female, walking toward him. He had a feeling he knew her, but his mind didn't care, thinking that he would die in a minute anyway. So, he succumbed to the darkness.

"Poor Choji," Kagome muttered, squatting next to him. "Now, I just gotta find a way to keep him stable long enough for the medics to get him to Tsunade."

So, she put her hands over Choji's head and chest. The mind and heart were the optimum places to use either destructive or healing ki of any kind. Choji was too far gone to notice the extra pain. It took a lot of her ki for her to keep him in a stable condition, but she did about two minutes later.

"Th-thank god, that's over…" Kagome said before grabbing Honey and jumping off, intent on finding Neji next.

"_Kagome, you should rest. You really don't need to expel all of your ki just for this_…" Honey said, worried about her partner.

"I know I don't have to, but I want to."

The rest of the trip held silence between them, but it wasn't uncomfortable. When she got there, she saw Kidomaru die, and Neji collapse, close to death himself. _I've definitely got to interfere here_. Kagome thought immediately, feeling his aura weaken more than it should have.

"Neji… good job," Kagome said, before starting to heal him like she did Choji.

"K-Kagome?" Neji muttered questioningly. "Why… are you here…?"

"Lady Tsunade sent me to make sure things went according to plan. You remember how I told you I have to interfere in some things?" At his slight nod, she continued. "This is one of those things. You're too close to death for the medics to save you, and you're supposed to live past here. Now stop talking and rest. I'm healing your body, not your energy."

"I-I have one… last question… What… happened to Choji…?"

"Choji… will be fine, I saved him too. Now, as I've already said. Shut. Up. And. Rest!"

So Neji, slightly scared of what she would do, even if he was drastically hurt, forced himself to rest. Neji was forced into a state of half-awareness because of the pain he was feeling from the sped up healing. A few minutes later, Neji was in a semi-stable state, so she propped him against a tree. She was about to leave when she paused, then smiled lightly. The look on his face was peaceful, even if there was blood and dirt on it. Before she could get any deeper into whatever it was she was in, she shook her head, picked up Honey, and raced off, intent on finding Kiba. (there, I got a microscopic portion of NejiKag in there. Keep in mind, I've never been in a relationship before, so I have no idea how it is to be in one… so no criticisms about that please)

She ran for a few minutes, until she came to the chasm. She smelt for the exact place they fell in, and jumped in herself, sending her ki into the bottom of her feet to slow her descent like at Naruto's end of the fight with Gaara. When she got down there, the fight was already moved to somewhere downstream. She could also feel the distinct auras of Temari, Kankuro, and Gaara coming in their direction.

She followed the stream and the scent of Kiba and Akamaru while Honey rested, knowing she would have to heal Akamaru some, since she was better with animals than humans while Kagome was better with humans than animals. She arrived just in time to see Kankuro kill Sakon and Ukon.

"H-hey, Kiba, you and Akamaru okay?" Kagome said, jumping down from a tree.

"Kagome? How come I can't seem to smell you or Honey?" Kiba asked, slightly suspicious and totally forgetting he was injured.

"Something we learned how to do. We had to survive somehow, didn't we. I've already healed Choji and Neji as much as I could, they'll be fine. Now, let me have Akamaru real quick so Honey can heal her, and I can heal you without hassle," Kagome said, kneeling and setting Honey down.

Kagome released the restraints on her scent so Kiba would know that it truly was her and Honey. She then put a hand above Kiba's forehead and one above his heart and released her ki. Kiba flinched, not expecting the pain. While she was doing this, Honey had nudged Akamaru onto his back so she could do the same thing. After a minute, considering how light their injuries were in comparison to Choji's and Neji's, they were good to go.

"You okay, Kankuro?" Kagome asked, standing up.

"Yeah, you go ahead." Kankuro answered.

So, Kagome scooped up Honey and took off into the trees, intent on finding Temari and Shikamaru by the time they had defeated Tayuya. Kagome, came just in time to see Temari use a summoning with her jutsu.

"Everyone alright here?" Kagome asked, coming out of hiding.

"I'm fine, not sure about Shikamaru though," Temari said, turning around.

"You okay Shikamaru?" Kagome asked.

"Just a broken finger. Why are you even here, Kagome?" he asked.

"Oh, well, Tsunade asked me to make sure all you guys came out of your fights alright. I've been healing everyone as fast as I could, so I'm only doing as much as needed to make sure I keep up, but everyone will be okay. Now, let me heal that finger so I can tell Tsunade I really did try my best on this mission," Kagome said, menace in the last sentence.

Kagome then grabbed the hand with the broken finger and forced her ki into it, Shikamaru having set in back in place before she arrived. Shikamaru could barely hold in his yelp of surprise at the sudden pain.

"Th-there. Now I've got to go check on Lee and Gaara, and my mission will be d-do-!" Kagome said, tripping.

"You sure you can even stand upright?" Temari asked, catching her.

"Y-yeah, I still have some energy left. I'll see you guys later!" Kagome called over her shoulder as she took off on all fours, Honey on her back.

As she got closer to where Lee and Gaara where fighting Kimimaru, a wave of sand suddenly came out of seemingly nowhere. She quickly put up a thick barrier of purification, knowing that Gaara had created the sand. She jumped through it, rendering a miniscule percentage of it unusable for about thirty seconds, long enough for her to jump through. Soon after, there was a shockwave.

Suddenly, just as she reached the edge of the clearing, bones grew out of the ground at an alarming rate. After Kimimaru came out of the bones he created and died, almost killing Gaara, Gaara and Lee were sitting under a couple trees on the opposite side of the clearing. Kagome, not wanting to come across Kimimaru's body, which was still sticking out of the bones, took the long way.

"Are-are you all alright?" Kagome asked, panting heavily.

"Kagome, are you okay!" Lee asked, instantly concerned.

"Y-yeah," Kagome said, waving it off. "D-do either of you n-need to be h-healed?"

"From the looks of things, you need to rest," Gaara said.

"N-no, I can still go for hou-" And she passed out, not even having enough energy to finish her sentence.

"There are no external injuries," Gaara said. "She just appears to have used too much chakra."

"G-good," Lee said, relieved.

"_I'm bored. Does anyone have anything fun to do_?" Honey asked, getting confused looks from the two who couldn't understand her.

.

Kagome opened her eyes, only to see a fuzzy version of her ceiling. She knew it was hers because sometime during her stay there, she had painted it with the night sky from a certain night in the feudal era. It was the same night that she had met Lady Destiny and the ten Fates. The night sky had been different that night. The stars looked colorful, making it seem like the Aurora Borealis, aka the Northern Lights, were sucked into them. The stars were also in a different pattern than they should've been, depicting eleven people, all with different weapons. There had been no clouds in the sky, and the moon had been full, enchanting even.

Kagome looked towards her left when the door opened. Her eyes were still blurry, having not tried to clear them of their blurriness, but she could easily recognize the aura and scent of the person there. It was Neji.

"Neji?" Kagome said, her voice scratchy. "Why are you here?"

"You've been asleep for a while. Just thought you'd like someone to make sure you don't die," he replied.

"How long have I been out?"

"Hm, let's see… I was in the hospital for a week… I've been checking on you for four days… Ten days?" (1. They never say when he gets out of the hospital, so I guessed. 2. If you're wondering why it's not eleven days, he started checking on her the day he got out of the hospital. That is all)

She shot into a sitting position. "TEN DAYS?" He nodded. "How did I not die? Pretty sure the only one who knows how to force food down my throat when I'm unconscious is Honey, and she needs to tell people what to do. I'm almost positive that you can't talk to Honey."

"Well… There was someone at the hospital that said they knew you. They helped me with that."

"Someone that… knew me? Who was it?"

"Uh, what was her name… Oh, right! It was Tasaina."

_Tasaina… Colorful_? "I don't know anyone named Tasaina… What did she look like?"

"She looked strange, even taking into account what some people in any dimension look like." Seeing her annoyed look, he continued. "Her hair was a pink. Not like Sakura's, but more hot pink with a pinch of purple. She had eyes that were an odd shade of orange with flecks of bronze, and two flowers in her hair. The flowers were the really weird part. There were five petals on each, and each flower had one petal that was red, orange, yellow, green, and blue, while the center of it was a violet color. She was also wearing a metallic gold robe with metallic silver tiger stripes… She also had lightly tanned skin… I think that's it," Neji explained carefully.

"Well, either you're interested in her, or you notice too many things," Kagome teased. Then, something seemed to go off. "Wait- WHAT?"

"So, you do know her?"

"That's… Kanna!" _No wonder her new name means 'colorful', she was a forced void demon back then and hated it_…

"So you do remember me Kagome!" a feminine voice cheered. In ran an older version of Kanna, looking almost exactly like her younger self. "I thought you'd never get it!"

"Kanna!" Kagome said, trying to pounce on her. A pain in her chest stopped her.

"Kagome," Kanna said, rushing over to her, past the forgotten Neji, who was leaving the room. "You've used too much energy. You won't be able to move much for a while more unless you want to get killed!"

"A-alright…" Kagome conceded, lying back down.

"Might wanna drink something," Neji suggested, coming back with a glass of water.

"Thanks," Kagome said, happy to get rid of the scratchy sound in her throat.

After Kanna and Neji left the room, Kagome was suddenly hit by the absence of energy in her system. Before she fell asleep, one last thought hit her. _Why isn't my energy restored?_

.

She woke up again under the same circumstances, with the door opening and Neji walking in. The only difference was that he had what smelled like a stack of pancakes in his hand.

"Thanks, Neji…" Kagome said, sitting up. She then stated stretching. "Man, I feel like I've slept for three days!"

"Probably because you have," Neji said, smirking, before leaning against the wall by the door.

"Don't you normally have stuff to do?" Kagome asked, bringing the pancakes and a fork to her lap.

"I just came a few minutes ago, someone else made the pancakes." He shrugged.

"And do you know who it was…?" Kagome asked carefully, a bite of it an inch from her mouth.

"Just eat it already! Geez, you would think you'd be happy I did this!" an annoyed feminine voice said. It was a voice she knew all too well.

"Kagura!"

"Yep!" Kagura said, walking in. She looked just the same as ever, maybe a little older. "Kanna showed me this place, thought I'd do something nice for when you woke up, and then this kid," she pointed at Neji. "showed up, and we decided not to tell you."

"You guys are evil," Kagome muttered, eating the tempting bite that had been an inch from her mouth.

"Hey! Not as evil as Lord Fluffy!" Kagura said. "Oh! Almost forgot! Because we're from an anime in this dimension, we all changed our names. You already know Kanna's name, Tasaina, but you don't know my, Hakudoshi, or Sesshy's names."

"Three things. One, did you and Fluffy finally mate, or are you both still in denial?"

Kagura blushed red. "Well, I'll have you know, we've been mated for two hundred and fifty nine years on Tuesday. We've also had four little troublesome kids."

"Awesome! Now, two. What ever happened to Inuyasha?"

"No one knows what happened to him. He mated a human, that we know. We also know that he had five kids with her. But when his mate passed away and his kids were all old enough to live on their own, he just vanished."

Disappointed, Kagome continued. "Three, what are your names, and the names of your kids?"

"Hakudoshi is Heiwa, Lord Fluffy is, much to his dismay, forcibly named Watage, and my name is Furyoku. Our kids names… well, our oldest, a girl who turned out more inu youkai than wind youkai, we decided to named Kogane, due to her golden hair. Our second oldest, another girl, was more wind youkai than inu youkai. Her name's Kaifu. Our second youngest, the only boy, turned out to be fifty-fifty, so we named him Senpu. The last, our youngest, somehow had a bit of human in the mix, but is all ours. We decided to name her… Kagome!" she ended.

"You… named your kid after me?" _So… Peace, Fluff, Wind, Golden, Breeze, Whirlwind, and… me, Caged Bird_…

"Yep! We didn't think we'd see you again, considering humans were taking a different road than the one you told us of, and she reminded us of you!" she said with a smile. Then her face got serious. "Now tell me… Why does he," she jabbed her finger in the forgotten Neji's direction. "know about everything?"

"Easy, I trusted him."

"When you first got here?"

"Course not! I'm not that stupid anymore!" Kagome defended.

"You better not be! It took a lot of work to knock the stupid outta ya!" Kagura said, smirking.

"Hey! YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO BE SUPPORTIVE!" Kagome complained childishly.

"And you're supposed to be smart, so there!" Kagura rebutted, just as childishly.

This rare moment of childishness caused Neji to chuckle lightly, causing the other two to remember he was there.

"Oh, Neji, I thought you left…" Kagome said, not even thinking about what she said.

"No, I didn't leave yet," he said simply.

"Once again, I ask, don't you normally have stuff to do?" Kagome asked.

"Not today, no."

"Hey Kagura, am I fit to leave my bed?"

"Can you feel any of your miko ki?"

"Yeah."

"Then, go do whatever it is you want to do," Kagura said, turning to walk out.

"Kagura, one more thing." Kagura paused. "Can you watch over Honey today?"

"Sure, why not?" Kagura said, shrugging before leaving the room. Kagura would do this happily. She could smell something on them that, no matter how sensitive Kagome's nose was, she would never smell.

"Why'd you want Kagura to watch Honey today?" Neji asked.

Kagome, who was about to eat her now semi-warm pancakes, glanced up at Neji before sighing. "Well, you got nothing to do today, I need to stretch out my mussels, so, I figured we could do something today. If Honey came, it would probably be hell in a hand basket."

"Why would hell be in a hand basket?" Neji asked, unfamiliar with that saying.

"I don't know. Context should tell you, cuz no one I know will ever be able to explain what it means, including me." And Kagome dug into her pancakes, this time actually eating more than a bite. "Remind me to thank Kagura again later," Kagome muttered. "Want some?"

"No thanks."

When Kagome was done, she forced Neji out of her room with her dishes so she could change, not that the ever polite Neji needed much of a push when he figured out the reason. When she was out of her room, she was in her usual outfit. She chose not to include the chuunin vest since she was almost sure she wouldn't have a mission today, this being the second time she was up in almost two weeks. Kagome also had on the necklace Inuyasha gave her, with all the charms she got on it. This was the first time she wore it.

"Let's go!" Kagome cheered, excited to be going out of her house for a while.

"Do you even have an idea of where you want to go?" Neji asked.

"Well, I wanted to get ingredients for something I was planning on making…" They then started to head out.

"What exactly are you making?" Neji asked when they got to the store.

"You'll see," Kagome said, picking up some cake flour.

After they were done, Kagome bought cake flour, eggs, white sugar, syrup, peanut oil, azuki beans, wheat starch, and regular flour. Kagome basically forced Neji to carry some of the bags. When they got back to her house, Kagome and Neji set all her stuff down on the counter.

Kagome automatically started to make it. She started with preheating the oven and putting a saucepan on the stovetop.

"What are you making again?" Neji asked.

"I'll tell you if you help," Kagome said, washing her hands.

"I think I'll wait, I'm not really the cooking type."

"Fine with me," Kagome said, reaching into the cupboards and bringing down some salt and baking soda.

Some time during the baking process, Neji spoke up. "You probably won't be able to find me tomorrow. I'll most likely be on a mission."

"Dang, I was planning on giving you one tomorrow… Oh well, I'll just give you one when it's done."

By now, Neji just wanted to scream 'Dear God, woman! Tell me what it is!' but didn't, his personality type wouldn't let him. "Who are you making them for?" is what he said instead.

"Let's see… Ino, Sakura, Hinata, TenTen, Shikamaru, Choji, Naruto, Kiba and Akamaru, Shino, Lee, you, Tsunade, Jiraiya, Teuchi, Ayame, umm… who else…"

"You?" Neji guessed.

"Oh, right! Me and Honey!" Kagome said, feeling stupid. "So that's, um, 18, right?" He nodded. "Hm, I'll have seven extra when I'm done, since I only know a recipe that serves eight… Do you have anyone you'd want to give one to?"

"No, not really. I'm sure Hinata would like to give one to her father and sister, if you gave her enough."

"Okay, so that's 21… I still need to figure out who to give the other four to…" Neji shrugged. "Oh! I'll give them to Kagura and Kanna if I see them! They can give the other two to Hakudoshi and Sesshomaru!"

So, the rest of time spent making the mystery product was spent in silence. There was a three hour break for a while, which was also spent in silence. When she was done with everything but the baking, she turned around.

"What are Hinata's sister and father's names?" she asked.

"Hanabi and Hiashi. Why?" he asked.

"I'm putting names on the top, and I wanted to know for their's."

She then put whatever it was on a baking sheet, misted it with water, then put it in the preheated oven. She then got out a couple eggs and put the yolks in a bowl before beating them. Eight minutes later, Kagome took the food back out and got out a basting brush. She dipped it in the yolk and brushed it on the food and put it back in.

"We got about fifteen minutes left. Want to help me clean this stuff up, or do I have to do it by myself?" Kagome said.

Neji put the ingredients away and clean up any spilled ones while Kagome did the dishes. When the dish was done, Kagome set it to cool for a few minutes.

When it was cool enough, Kagome said, "You want a moon cake?"

"Moon cake?" Neji asked, not knowing what that was. (sorry if they have that in the Naruto universe, but I don't know if they do. I looked it up, couldn't find an answer anywhere)

"Yeah, it's a treat from China. It's served during the Mid-Autumn Festival. It's a festival that has close ties with the moon. Want to try one?"

He nodded, and took the one Kagome offered, the one with his name on it. He took a bite. "This is pretty good," he said.

"Good, that means I made it right! I was afraid I'd forgotten the recipe!" Kagome said, scratching the back of her neck. "I'm going to go deliver the rest of them to everyone that's here now, you can come with, or you can do whatever. It doesn't really matter." Kagome then stacked the rest of them into a pyramid in a container and walked out the door. Neji just went home.

Kagome ended up humming while walking down the road. "Kagome!" she heard. She turned around to see TenTen waving at her, Lee by her side. "What's that stuff?" TenTen asked, walking up to her.

"It's moon cakes. It's something from where I come from. I made you guys some!" Kagome said, reaching into the container and pulling out the ones for TenTen and Lee. "Enjoy!"

Kagome then walked away, leaving them to wonder what the heck moon cakes were on their own. She knew they'd ask Neji later, him being the smartest on their team. She was walking by some random house when Akamaru was suddenly in her path.

"Hey Akamaru! Is Kiba around? Or are you by yourself?" Kagome asked, knowing Kiba was near.

"_He's here! I just smelled you and something yummy and wanted to know what it was_!" he said quickly

"There you are, Akamaru," Kiba said, rounding a corner. "Hey Kagome. What do ya have there?"

"Moon cakes. I made some for you and Akamaru. Want 'em?" Kagome asked.

"_I wanna try! I wanna try!_" Akamaru cheered.

"Sure, why not?" Kiba agreed. Kagome got out the ones with Kiba and Akamaru's names on it. "Why are our names on them?"

"So I can remember who I haven't given them to yet," Kagome said like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "Now, I need to deliver the rest of them. Later!" she called, walking away.

She then went to Ino's place, where she gave her Choji and Shikamaru's, since they were going to come over soon. Afterwards, she ran into Shino, and gave him his, which he was indifferent about. She then stopped by the Hokage's office, which, coincidentally, Jiraiya was in at the time. She gave both of them theirs. She stopped by the Ichiraku ramen shop, which Naruto and Sakura were eating at at the time. At this point there were nine left.

"Hey," was heard from behind her.

"Hey Furyoku," Kagome said, turning in Kagura's direction. "Want a moon cake?"

"Oh, I haven't had any since the last time you made them! I would so love one!"

"I made one for Kanna too, and Hakudoshi and Fluffy if they're here too."

"Oh, they are, they just don't know that you're here. We didn't tell them!"

"Well, give them to them anyway." Kagome then handed Kagura the three extra moon cakes. "Now, I'm off. I have one more person I need to see before I can pick up Honey."

"Alright, I'll bring her by when you're done."

"Thanks," Kagome said, walking away. She was on her way to the Hyuga compound when she ran into Hinata. "Hey Hinata! What's up?"

"N-nothing much. Wh-what about y-you?" she asked, still not past her shy exterior.

"I made some dessert for all my friends. Here," Kagome said, handing her three of them.

"U-um, Kagome, why is there the names of m-my sister and f-father on two of th-them?"

"I had some extra, and I asked Neji who to give them to. He told me that you may want to give them to your father and sister, should I give you the extra."

"Th-that's very n-nice of you, Kagome, b-but, what are th-they?"

"Oh, right. They're moon cakes, something from where I come from."

"Th-thank you…"

"Later Hinata!" Kagome said, walking away.

"G-good-bye Kagome," Hinata said, returning on her path home.

-^-v-^-v-^-v-^-v-^-v

Yeah… I know I missed the part where they helped Ibiki's brother, whose name I can never remember, but that's because I was focusing on the anime. By the time I remembered that Sasuke was on the mission, I had already posted the last chapter and was half-way through this chapter. Sorry, I'll try to remember the anime only arcs!

Oh, one last thing. I did the last moon cake part because I wrote this part at night. The next part would've been an anime only arc, but I'm writing this at night, so I can't watch the anime


	8. Not A Chapter, But Read It

Sorry all, but I have lost almost all faith that I'll ever be able to post the next chapter. It's not that I'm not motivated, I am, it's just that… I've tried to post the chapter five times and something always happens to stop it, like, my computer running out of battery, word deleting my document and forcing me to retype, etc. so, really sorry, but… if I can regain some faith, I'll restart this… but, look on the bright side, I'll be writing some other stories that you can read and you'll hopefully like them just as much as you liked this…

.

Again, sorry,

Cade

T.T


	9. Please Read This!

**Dear my faithful Naruto Plus 1 readers,**

I know it's been a while since I've updated, and I've told you my previous reason, but there's another reason why I'm not updating. My computer, for one reason or another, won't let me watch things on my computer. I've actually wanted to update for a long time, but… yeah, this goes by the anime, which means fillers, which means I'm writing the fillers I find appropriate to put Kagome in. So, yeah. That's it for this message to Naruto Plus 1 fans.

.

For people who enjoy a good Fruits Basket Inuyasha crossover fanfiction, read on. I'm going to write a fanfiction, hopefully I don't accidently steal a plotline in the process, and I need some help. I'm, obviously, going by the manga, and I want a Haru/Kagome pairing, but, as I previously said, I'm going by the manga, which means I'm involving Isuzu, aka Rin, and she, in the manga, is paired with Haru. Now, I don't really want to skip on some of the stuff between them because I feel it helps push the story, but that would also lead up to them being together. I need help figuring out what to do with Rin. Help? Please? Just leave a review and I'll thank you for it, whether I like it or not because I'm sure that, even if I don't like it, it'll be a good idea.

.

**Your… well, I'm almost positive not favorite, but somewhere in the likeable area… author,**

**Cade! **


	10. Read This!

I'd like to say hello and welcome to the next chapter of my fanfiction _Naruto Plus 1_! I'd like to, but that's not what this is about (unfortunately…). Sorry if I got your hopes up, but this won't be updated just yet.

I have a question to ask you, the readers of this story. If you read my Fruits Basket/Inuyasha crossover story, you probably know I'm taking a break from that for another story. When I'm done with those two stories, I promise you all I will get back to this, but that's where the question comes into play.

**Should I continue this story where I left off, or rewrite it?**

You see, my writing style's changed since I wrote the last chapter and I'd like my work to represent that. I'm going to rewrite it anyway so the first chapters keep up with the rest of the work, but I want to know if you all want to wait a while longer for the next chapter or if you want it rewritten.

Oh, yes, I will definitely be adding stuff to it since I felt some parts were lacking. An example, you ask? Well, in the summery, I said that she only has a year to prepare for everything, yet I skip the _entire frickin' year_! I do a _yearlong time skip past the preparation_! My writing then was very wacked up, if you ask me…

So, please, tell me which you would prefer… I'll put a poll on my profile. You can vote in the poll, in a review, or you could PM me if you wish, though only one vote for every way of voting (meaning everyone has three votes). The poll will close… Whenever I finish writing the last chapter of my Furuba/Inuyasha crossover (That'll probably take a while, so you have time…)

.

Thank you all for your continuous support during this. It means a lot to me… Oh, yes, and EVERYONE HAVE HAPPY HOLIDAYS (even if they're all basically at the end of the month…)


End file.
